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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

ChapTEZb Copyright No. 

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Shelf_JLl9& r» 


UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 












FIFE AND DRUM AT 
LOUISBOURG 


* 












FIFE AND DRUM AT 
LOUISBOURG 


BY 

/ 

J. MACDONALD OXLEY 


Ellustratifc fcjj 

CLYDE O. DE LAND 


BOSTON 

LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 
1899 




44331 

Copyright , 1899, 

By Little, Brown, and Company. 


All rights reserved. 


TWO COPIES RECEIVED. 



®tofoersttg Press : 

John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S. A. 
second COPY, 

OeA:.''V'^‘ST~" 


CONTENTS, 


Chapter Page 

I. The Pomeroy Twins 1 

II. A Timely Intervention 15 

III. A Change of Schools 29 

IY. At Close Quarters 44 

Y. In which an Extraordinary Enter- 
prise IS BROACHED 59 

YI. A Momentous Decision 74 

YII. The Starting of the Expedition . 88 

YIII. In Perils of Waters 102 

IX. Safely into Port 115 

X. Active Service Afloat 130 

XI. Pursued and Pursuing 145 

XII. The Landing at Louisbourg . . . 158 

XIII. How Prince hoisted the Colors . . 172 

XIV. How Captain Yaughan held the 

Grand Battery 186 

XV. Tenting on the Cold Camp Ground. 199 

XVI. From Peril to Peril 211 

XVII. A Prisoner of War 224 

XVIII. The Love of a Brother 238 

XIX. The Attack on the Island Battery 252 

XX. A Voluntary Prisoner 265 

XXI. The Fall of the Fortress .... 279 

XXII. Home again in Triumph 293 


1 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


FROM DRAWINGS BY CLYDE 0. DE LAND. 

“Hurrah! there’s Father” .... Frontispiece 
“ The Band-Sergeant was only too delighted 

to be their teacher ” Page 44 

“ The shrewd ‘mounseers’ surrendered with- 
out A BLOW ” 138 

“Prince and Pickle in the foremost one” . 168 

“ He was placed against a tree trunk ” . 225 



FIFE AND DRUM AT 
LOUISBOURG. 


CHAPTER I. 

THE POMEROY TWINS. 

“ jDRINCE ” and “ Pickle ” were the pride 
and despair of the Pomeroys. That 
is to say, Prince was the pride, and Pickle 
the despair ; and yet how hotly good Mis- 
tress Pomeroy would have resented the 
suggestion that the one did not hold as 
big a place in her warm heart as the 
other ! 

What made their many differences of 
disposition and temperament all the more 
remarkable was, that they were twins, 
and bore so close a resemblance that 
when Pickle assumed a serious air, as he 
could admirably on occasion, he looked so 


2 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

much like Prince that the short-sighted 
pedagogue whose school they attended 
was unable to determine which was which, 
until he had peered through his glasses 
at the tips of their noses, Pickle’s being 
adorned with a big brown freckle, while 
Prince’s was speckless. 

Lest such staid and sensible members of 
the Massachusetts Commonwealth as the 
Pomeroys should be suspected of unduly 
aristocratic aspirations on the one hand, 
and of a lack of just concern for the rights 
of childhood on the other, it should be ex- 
plained that they were not really responsi- 
ble for the striking names their two boys 
bore. 

The youngsters had practically named 
themselves, the quiet dignity of the one 
soon winning for him the flattering sou- 
briquet of “ Prince,” while the mercurial 
mischievousness of the other brought upon 
him the no less appropriate nickname of 
“ Pickle.” 

The baptismal register showed that their 
rightful appellations were respectively Brad- 


THE POMEROY TWINS. 


3 


ford and Sewall, they being thus named in 
honor of two of the worthy old Puritans 
through whom their father had come by his 
odd patronymic of Preserved Pomeroy ; but 
in spite of diligent paternal effort they got 
to be so universally known as “ Prince ” 
and “ Pickle ” that even Mr. Pomeroy him- 
self, in unguarded moments, fell into the 
use of those very convenient handles when 
he wished to lay hold of one or other of 
them. 

Despite the Puritan rigor of discipline 
that prevailed, the Pomeroy household was 
a very hearty and happy one. It was the 
day when a multitude of olive-branches 
made good cause for righteous pride, and 
families that did not run into double 
figures were lightly esteemed. 

Thus to the Pomeroys there came no less 
than seventeen children in all, of whom the 
great majority reached man’s estate. 

Prince and Pickle occurred about midway 
in this imposing quiverful, and were therein 
well treated by destiny, their experiences 
at home pleasantly illustrating the classic 


4 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

proverb “ In the midst you walk safest 
for they in large measure escaped the re- 
sponsibilities of their elder brothers, while 
they yet had those younger than themselves 
over whom they could exercise authority. 

It was a much more serious affair being 
a child in those “ good old days ” than it is 
in these degenerate times. Hardly one 
tithe of the comforts and conveniences now 
taken as a matter of course were known to 
our sturdy forefathers. 

When Prince and Pickle, who made the 
mistake of choosing midwinter to be born 
in, were but a week old, they must needs be 
taken to the meeting-house to be baptized. 
So bitter was the cold in the sacred edi- 
fice, destitute of all means of heating, that 
the ice had to be broken in the christening 
bowl ! 

No wonder that Pickle, true to his nature, 
screamed in indignant protest when the icy 
drops fell upon his warm soft face, and that 
Prince shrank and shivered, although he 
cried not. 

Nor was the Pomeroy residence much 


THE POMEROY TWINS. 


5 


warmer than the meeting-house, except 
within the cosey ingle-nook, or in the im- 
mediate vicinity of the great blazing wood 
fire; and when the children grew out of 
their mother’s immediate care, and had to 
look after themselves, the advent of bed- 
time in winter was regarded with lively 
dread, not so much because of the darkness 
of the halls and bedrooms, as because it 
meant leaving the genial torrid zone below 
for the drear arctic regions above. 

Lively and energetic as Master Pickle was 
while daylight lasted, or within the cheery 
radius of the fire’s fierce rays during early 
evening, he sobered down wonderfully when 
the hands of the tall solemn clock in the 
corner drew near to bedtime ; and if he 
could only at that hour have had the use of 
the famous cap which conferred invisibility, 
so that his stern-visaged, keen-eyed father 
might lose knowledge of his presence, he 
would have considered it an inestimable 
boon. 

However merry his humor, or mad his 
pranks had been, he became as still and 


6 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

silent as a mouse, — only the insuppressible 
twinkle of his eye, or the noiseless twitch- 
ing of his lips, giving hint of his true 
character. 

When with a relentless emphasis that 
always roused Pickle’s ire, — for it seemed 
to him as if the stately timepiece took a ma- 
licious pleasure in announcing the hour as 
emphatically as possible, — the strokes, one- 
two-three, and so on up to eight, vibrated 
through the living-room, no matter how 
deeply absorbed in book or talk Mr. Pom- 
eroy might be, he straightened up in his 
chair, swept the room with a searching 
glance that not even Pickle could evade, 
and sent out three words from between his 
firm-set lips, — 

“ Children — to bed.” 

Against this command no protest was 
permitted. Pickle might give his mother 
an appealing look that found a sympathetic 
response in those sweet brown eyes, but not 
a word would be spoken by either, and, drag- 
ging himself along as though every bone 
ached and every sinew groaned, the young 


THE POMEROY TWINS. 


7 


rogue would follow his brother Prince, who 
had begun to move ere the old clock ceased 
striking. 

The way the two changed their relative 
positions in the pursuit of amusement and 
the performance of duty respectively, was 
very noticeable. 

In all matters of play Pickle was easily 
the leader. His active brain was ever de- 
vising fresh forms of diversion, and, as his 
power of invention quite outran his gift of 
expression or explanation, he had usually 
to make clear what he was driving at by 
first doing it himself ; Prince, who was a 
most loyal brother, following his lead with 
beautiful docility. 

But when it came to the studying of les- 
sons, or the performance of tasks set by 
their parents, then Prince took the lead as 
by matter of right, and if Pickle ever 
acquitted himself creditably he had Prince 
in the main to thank for it. 

Yet Prince was as far from being a prig 
as Pickle was from being a pattern. He 
had more ballast, more method, more com- 


8 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

mon sense ; that was all. In every other 
respect he was just as much of a boy as his 
brother. 

Their home stood on the west side of the 
Common in Boston Town, and was a solidly 
built, roomy structure (as it well needed to 
be) that betokened a fair share of the 
world’s goods on the part of the owner and 
occupant. 

Mr. Pomeroy would not have been counted 
a rich man in these days of multi-million- 
naires ; but such vast fortunes were un- 
known, indeed undreamt of then, and the 
comfortable competency he had amassed 
by diligence in business and economy in 
expenditure commanded the respect of the 
community. 

He was a merchant in a rather large way 
of dealing, who owned wharf and ware- 
houses, and outfitted vessels, and made ven- 
tures on his own account, which if they did 
not always quite realize his expectations, 
generally in the long run showed a fair 
balance on the right side. 

Directly descended from the men of the 


THE POMEROY TWINS. 


9 


“ Mayflower,” as he was proud to proclaim, 
he was saved from being a religious fanatic 
only by the sense of humor that ran like a 
vein of gold through the stern granite of 
his nature, supplemented by the sweet sub- 
duing influence of his wife, who, while in 
no wise falling short of him in faith, far 
surpassed him in gentle charity. 

Even in those days when maidens were 
much limited in their freedom of choice, the 
gossips wondered how winsome Judith 
Leverett allowed herself to be won by so 
stiff and ungracious a wooer as Preserved 
Pomeroy ; but the sequel showed the sound- 
ness of her judgment, for, although they 
made scant display of their mutual affec- 
tion in public, Boston Town did not con- 
tain a couple that understood and loved 
one another better. 

No mother in Massachusetts did her duty 
more faithfully by her children than Mis- 
tress Pomeroy. She was a little woman, — 
not more than five feet in height, and so 
slight that her stalwart husband could 
carry her in his arms with ease, — but 


10 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

she bore herself with a sweet dignity that 
ever compelled respect. Her big brown 
eyes, usually beaming with love, could on 
occasion glow with fire, and not even her 
own children ever dared venture beyond 
the bounds of her patience. 

Despite the multitude of her maternal 
cares, the benign beauty of her face and 
the blitheness of her spirit so bravely with- 
stood the hand of time that at the age of 
twoscore and five she looked a full decade 
younger, much to the envy of Mistress 
Everett, her next-door neighbor and con- 
temporary, who had never been troubled 
with children, and who yet appeared quite 
ten years older than the little mother of 
many. 

Mistress Everett found it easier to for- 
give Mistress Pomeroy for her overflowing 
nursery than for her perennial vigor, and 
would have been much better pleased if 
those wavy brown locks had been more 
plentifully besprinkled with silver, and 
those ruddy cheeks more interlaced with 
wrinkles. 


THE POMEROY TWINS. 


11 


But Mistress Pomeroy never allowed 
such things to trouble her. Her bright, 
busy life had scant margin for bothering 
about other people’s affairs, and she was 
for the most part serenely indifferent to 
outside criticism. 

Of course the Pomeroy children went to 
school. There was not likely to be any 
lack of these important institutions in 
Boston; and if the young people failed 
to appreciate their privileges in this re- 
spect, it certainly was not their parents’ 
fault. 

Next to the church, in their estimation, 
stood the school, and they saw to it that 
their boys and girls attended regularly, 
whether they liked it or not. 

Now Prince took to school-going quite 
kindly, but to Pickle it was a purgatory 
tempered by truancy. 

Poor little Pickle ! Full many a birching 
he suffered at the heavy hands of the 
notorious Master Lovall, whose name 
formed so curious a contrast to his charac- 
ter. Indeed, it was no other than Pickle 


12 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

who had the audacity to attempt to bring 
the two into agreement by nicknaming the 
tigerish pedagogue “ Hateall,” — a designa- 
tion that thenceforth stuck to him like a 
burr. 

No one could master his lessons more 
quickly than Pickle when the humor took 
him, and under the direction of one who 
would have handled him gently yet firmly, 
as the skilful rider does a high-spirited 
thorough-bred, he might have led his class 
in scholarship. 

But Master “ Hateall ” knew nothing of 
these finer ways, or, if he did, despised 
them as weak concessions to juvenile de- 
pravity. With him it was instant, unques- 
tioning obedience, or merciless punishment. 

Not content with using the heaviest 
of birchen rods, and compelling another 
scholar to act as whipping-post during the 
operation, Lovall was ingenious in devising 
novel modes of punishment designed to be 
no less humiliating than painful. 

It was in connection with one of these 
that Prince distinguished himself, to the 


THE POMEROY TWINS. 


13 


great astonishment of his fellow-scholars, 
who thereafter held a heightened opinion 
of the quiet, reserved boy. 

Pickle had been more than usually pro- 
voking. After playing truant the previous 
day, and being soundly birched therefor, 
instead of showing contrition for his mis- 
behavior, he seemed possessed of a very 
demon of insubordination, and at last in 
angry despair Master Lovall had recourse 
to an expedient that he thought would 
surely prove effectual. 

Sending out for a branch of a tree, he 
made a split in the large end, and then 
standing Pickle in the middle of the floor, 
he sprang the branch upon his freckled 
nose, which it pinched most painfully, 
while the leafy part rose above his head 
like an exaggerated aigrette. 

So utterly ridiculous was the poor boy’s 
situation that not even dread of the master 
restrained the roar of laughter that burst 
from all the boys, save one. 

That one was Prince. At first his face 
flushed a deep crimson, and then it went pale 


14 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

as paper, while a thrill of indignant wrath 
ran through his boyish frame. 

The next moment he rose from his seat 
with firm-set lips and flashing eyes, and the 
boys held their breath in utter bewilder- 
ment as, marching straight up to Pickle, 
he plucked the branch from his nose, flung 
it out of the open door, and then, tak- 
ing his place beside his brother, awaited 
the inevitable consequences with resolute 
mien ! 


CHAPTER II. 


A TIMELY INTERVENTION. 

OR an instant both teacher and scholars 



x seemed turned to stone. In all his 
life Master Lovall had never been so smit- 
ten with astonishment. As regarded con- 
duct, Prince stood easily first in the school. 
Never had the birchen rod fallen upon his 
back, or the cruel taws stung his tender 
hands. 

And that he, Bradford Pomeroy, the 
worthy son of a worthy father, should thus 
dare to set all discipline at defiance, and join 
hands with so flagrant a wrong-doer — it 
was wellnigh paralyzing. 

No one was more amazed than Pickle 
himself. He had felt keenly his humilia- 
tion, and was so sobered by it as to come 
nearer the point of contrition than on any 
previous occasion. 


16 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

But when Prince thus gallantly bearded 
the tiger in his own lair, so to speak, out 
of pure brotherly love and pride, Pickle lost 
all thought of himself in keen concern for 
his brother; 

“ Bun away, Prince, run away ! ” he whis- 
pered, giving the other a stout push at the 
shoulder. “ He will kill you dead for this.” 

And indeed the aspect of the pedagogue, 
as, having in a measure recovered himself, 
he slowly rose from behind his desk and 
moved towards the boys, was appalling 
enough. 

His deeply seamed countenance was gray 
and ghastly with wrath, his eyes glowed 
like those of a wild beast about to spring 
upon its prey, and his long bony fingers 
opened and closed spasmodically, bearing 
a horrid resemblance to talons. 

So absolutely overcome by brutal fury 
was he that he had it in mind to clutch the 
boys by the throats, and bang their heads 
together until he had knocked sense into 
them, if he did not knock their senses out 
of them. 


A TIMELY INTERVENTION. 


17 


Spellbound the school watched his ap- 
proach, the twins shrinking close to each 
other, but standing their ground like 
Roman sentinels. 

Scarce a yard separated them from the 
maddened master, one more stride and he 
would have been upon them, when suddenly 
the open doorway was filled with the im- 
posing figure of a tall, richly-dressed gentle- 
man, and a strong cheery voice called out : 

“ Hey-day, Master Lovall ! I did but hap- 
pen in to have a look &t your flock. And 
how do the lambs cbmport themselves? 
Abounding ifi-miscmef, I warrant, and re- 
quiring a firm hand to restrain their friski- 
ness. Do I not speak truly ? ” 

“ Ay, that you do, your Excellency,” re- 
sponded Master Lovall, contorting his 
features in a semblance of a smile, and 
bending his stiff back in a perfunctory bow, 
fon it was no other than the Governor of 
Massachusetts who had thus inopportunely 
(from the pedagogue’s point of view) made 
his appearance. “ I was but just upon the 
eve of administering a well-deserved reproof 


18 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

when you did me the honor to visit my 
humble establishment.” 

The Governor’s handsome mouth bore a 
very significant smile, and his fine eyes 
gleamed in a way that showed how he was 
enjoying the situation ; the fact of the mat- 
ter being that, sauntering past the door 
of the school, he had caught a glimpse of 
the twins huddling together with terrified 
countenance, and, shrewdly suspecting the 
truth, — for Master Lo vall’s reputation was 
well known to him, — he, on the spur of the 
moment, resolved to interfere ere the sav- 
age punishment fell. 

Having gone thus far, he thought he 
might as well see the affair out, and so, 
after looking around upon the boys with 
one of his irresistible smiles, he turned to 
the schoolmaster, and said in a tone of 
mingled courtesy and command that none 
knew better than he how to use: — 

“ I bespeak for your pupils a half holiday, 
good Master Lovall. I desire to confer with 
you upon a matter of some import that re- 
quires we should have privacy.” 


A TIMELY INTERVENTION. 


19 


If the boys dared they would have 
shouted for joy, and given three cheers for 
his Excellency. But the dread of their 
teacher was too strong upon them, and they 
sat silent, though smiling, on the hard 
wooden forms. 

As for Master Lovall, the idea of the 
Governor having sought him out for a 
private conference so filled him with pride 
that for the moment all other feelings were 
submerged, and, lifting his head, he called 
out : — 

“ Scholars, at the gracious request of his 
Excellency you are dismissed for the day. 
Bradford and Sewall Pomeroy, I will have 
further speech with you on the morrow.’ , 

Concealing their tumultuous joy under a 
decorous exterior with a degree of success 
that showed how the Puritan strain still 
held sway in them, the hoys filed into the 
street, and not until they were safely out 
of hearing did they give vent to their feel- 
ings in Indian-like whoops, and ecstatic 
leaps. 

But the Pomeroy twins did not share in 


20 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

this demonstration. They were the last to 
leave the schoolroom, and they walked 
along together homewards without speak- 
ing, and in manifest depression of spirit. 

The dark cloud of Master “ Hateall’s ” 
vengeance hung heavily over them, and they 
both felt that they would rather have taken 
their punishment and got through with it 
than have it still before them like a grim 
spectre. 

Prince’s self-forgetful heroism had pro- 
duced on Pickle an impression such as all 
forms of penalty had utterly failed in doing. 
He saw his persistent misconduct in a new 
light when it involved his brother, who 
would otherwise have never incurred the 
master’s wrath. And this new point of 
view sobered him. 

For the first time he felt really penitent, 
and would have been glad to take upon 
himself the whole punishment, if that were 
only possible. 

Prince was the first to break the silence, 
and what he said surprised Pickle almost 
as much as what he had done in the school. 


A TIMELY INTERVENTION. 


21 


“ I will not go back to Master Lovall’s,” 
he exclaimed in a tone of fixed determina- 
tion. “ He is a devil, not a man, and he 
would kill us if he dared.” 

“ But how can we help going back, 
Prince ? ” asked Pickle, a new hope arousing 
his heart, although he could not see how it 
might be realized. 

“ Why, Pickle, I shall tell it all to our 
mother, and to our father too, and beseech 
them not to send us back there, but to per- 
mit us to attend Master Hancock’s school, 
of which all speak so well,” responded 
Prince, the gloom vanishing from his face 
at the very prospect of a change so devoutly 
to be wished. 

Despite some misgivings as to the success 
of his brother’s venture, Pickle likewise 
threw off the depression that had been 
weighing upon his spirit, and the two boys 
entered into their companions’ play as 
heartily as though the problem were 
already solved. 

But, a little earlier than usual, Prince 
called Pickle aside, and suggested that they 


22 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

hurry home so as to talk the matter over 
with their mother ere Mr. Pomeroy should 
return from business. 

Pickle saw the force of this at once, and 
so, dropping out of a very interesting game 
of wicket, they sought Mrs. Pomeroy, and 
opened their hearts to her, Prince being 
the chief narrator, with Pickle as prompter. 

The little mother’s countenance as she 
listened — and she was one that knew how 
to listen to perfection — was a wonderful 
study. 

Sorrow at her boy’s misbehavior, sym- 
pathy for the birchings inflicted, indig- 
nation at the humiliating punishment 
imposed, pride at Prince’s gallant action, 
wrath at the master’s tigerish fury, and 
delight at the Governor’s timely interven- 
tion swiftly succeeded one another on her 
mobile features, culminating in a hearty 
peal of laughter as the ludicrous aspect of 
it all came upon her with irrisistible 
force. 

But the tears filled her brown eyes, al- 
though her lips still twitched a little as, en- 


A TIMELY INTERVENTION. 


23 


folding the boys in her arms and making 
their curly locks mingle, she imprinted a 
kiss upon each head, saying tenderly : — 

“ You have indeed behaved grievously, 
Sewall, my son, and Master Lovall had 
good cause for anger, but it was not seemly 
that he should thus expose you to the jeer- 
ing of your schoolmates, and I shall inter- 
cede with your father, and entreat him to 
place you with another master, if you will 
faithfully promise me to bear yourself in a 
more fitting manner.” 

“ Oh, you dear, dear mother ! ” cried 
Pickle, ecstatically, “ I will indeed promise 
you ; and I will keep my promise, won’t I, 
Prince ? ” turning to his brother. 

“ Surely you will, Pickle,” assented 
Prince. 

“ As for you, Bradford dear,” continued 
Mrs. Pomeroy, “ I am prouder of you to-day 
than ever in my life before. You did a 
right noble thing to thus take your brother’s 
part, and I love you for it,” she added im- 
pulsively, lifting his face to hers, and kiss- 
ing him full upon the broad white forehead. 


24 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

Prince’s countenance grew radiant as an 
angel’s while his mother spoke. Though 
quiet and undemonstrative of manner, 
his affections went deep, and this warm 
praise from his beloved mother was 
sweeter to him than anything else in the 
world. 

Just then Mr. Pomeroy’s heavy deliberate 
step was heard at the door, and saying, 
“ Keep your counsel, my sons, until I bid 
thee speak,” Mrs. Pomeroy hastened to 
meet her husband. 

Like a wise woman, she gave no hint of 
what was in her mind until her better-half 
had done justice to an excellent supper, 
and settled down in his big chair to digest 
it amid the comfort and peace of his own 
home, which he really loved more dearly 
than his counting-room. Then seizing a 
favorable opportunity, she rehearsed the 
whole matter, putting forward no plea for 
either of the boys, but allowing the simple 
facts to be their own argument. 

To the first part of the narration, Mr. 
Pomeroy listened as though he were carved 


A TIMELY INTERVENTION. 25 

out of stone, and had it finished there, dire 
indeed would have been the punishment 
meted out to poor Pickle. 

But when it came to the springing of 
the branch upon Pickle’s nose, an ominous 
flush showed on his grizzled cheeks, and 
his deep eyes glowed with an indignant 
flame. 

Yet not a word passed his firmly set lips 
until Mrs. Pomeroy told of Prince’s pluck- 
ing away the offending branch, and throw- 
ing it out of the door. 

Then did the father’s pride burst through 
the barriers of stern suppression, and, throw- 
ing up his hands with a gesture of admi- 
ration, he exclaimed : — 

“ Eight well done it was, forsooth! 
Verily but my son Bradford hath the true 
Pomeroy strain in him. He did right 
thus to protest against so infamous an 
indignity.” 

The next instant, as if ashamed of saying 
so much, he checked himself, and sought 
to restore to his features the judicial sever- 
ity which they had previously borne. 


26 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

But clever little Mrs. Pomeroy, seeing her 
advantage, hastened to tell of the teacher’s 
avenging approach, and of the well-timed 
appearance of the Governor, and as her 
husband listened with bated breath, and 
the whole scene was brought vividly before 
him, the sudden balking of Master Lovall’s 
brutal purpose, and his perfunctory falling 
in with his Excellency’s suggestion, so 
touched the good man’s sense of humor 
that he threw himself back in his chair, 
and smiting his thigh hard with his hand, 
broke forth into a laugh that made the 
very rafters ring, and brought joy to the 
hearts of Prince and Pickle waiting anx- 
iously in the adjoining room. 

This was the astute mother’s opportunity. 
After joining heartily in the laughter, she 
laid her hand upon her good man’s broad 
shoulder, and in her most winning tone 
went on to say : — 

“ Bo not you think, my husband, that it 
would be better our boys did not return to 
Master LovalFs school? They have both 
incurred his ire, and he will henceforth deal 


A TIMELY INTERVENTION-. 27 

harshly with them, whereas if they went 
to Master Hancock's I am very confident 
that Sewall would bear himself with far 
more credit, for Master Hancock knoweth 
how to be firm without being unduly 
severe." 

The smile vanished from Mr. Pomeroy's 
features, and they puckered up with an ex- 
pression of profound thought as his wife 
spoke. 

He had fully intended to personally in- 
terview Master Lovall, and let him under- 
stand very clearly what he thought of his 
conduct, but that he should at the same 
time withdraw his boys had not entered 
his mind. 

He cogitated for some moments while his 
wife wisely held her peace. Then he said : — 

“ Are Bradford and Sewall near by ? 
Bid them come to me." 

On the boys appearing, he first adminis- 
tered to Pickle a stern reproof for his mis- 
conduct, and then proceeded to ask a number 
of questions about Master Lovall's methods 
of discipline, going on to require further 


28 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

details of the exciting episode in which the 
twins had figured, it being very evident 
that he found keen enjoyment in the affair, 
although he strove to disguise the fact. 

Finally, he made some inquiries about 
Master Hancock’s school, concerning which 
institution the boys had nothing but good 
to report, and wound up by ordering them 
off to bed, without having given any hint 
of what he would do in the matter. 


CHAPTER III. 


A CHANGE OF SCHOOLS. 

HE boys awoke the next morning in a 



x state of lively concern and uncer- 
tainty as to whether or not they would be 
commanded to return to Master Lovall’s. 

Sturdily as Prince had asserted his de- 
termination not to go back, there was no 
likelihood of his actually venturing to defy 
his father. 

If he had no alternative but to return, 
why return he would, and endure the con- 
sequences with as much fortitude as he 
might muster. 

Pickle, subdued in spirit as never before, 
had many wild and impracticable sugges- 
tions to offer, but no very definite opinion 
of his own as to how things would turn 
out. 


30 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

He somehow felt several years younger 
than Prince, and was ready to follow wher- 
ever he might lead. 

The morning meal was disposed of with- 
out Mr. Pomeroy giving any sign, and then 
came family prayers, in which there was 
generous measure of Bible reading and of 
petition. 

When the family rose from their knees, 
it was full time for the boys to be off to 
school, and, moved by a common impulse, 
Mistress Pomeroy and her twin boys looked, 
the first inquiringly, the other two appre- 
hensively, at the head of the house. 

It would have taken a particularly pene- 
trating glance to discover the well-concealed 
gleam of humor in those austere features, 
and the anxious boys could hardly be 
blamed for failing to detect it ; but their 
keener-sighted mother did, and was thus 
enabled to anticipate what the decision 
would be. 

“ Bradford and Sewall, you may abide 
at home this day,” spoke Mr. Pomeroy at 
length. “You shall be further informed 


A CHANGE OP SCHOOLS. 


31 


by me to-night with reference to the 
future ; ” and, having thus delivered him- 
self, the worthy merchant strode away to 
business, leaving his wife and children free 
to indulge in mutual congratulations and 
rejoicings. 

During the day Mr. Pomeroy took pains 
to inquire into the respective merits of 
Master Lovall’s and Master Hancock's es- 
tablishments, with the result of thoroughly 
satisfying himself that his boys would be 
far better off under the care of the latter 
pedagogue. 

With him action always followed promptly 
upon decision, and accordingly, ere return- 
ing home that evening, he had made ar- 
rangements with Master Hancock to receive 
Bradford and Sewall into his school the 
following morning. 

The delight of the twins at this being 
announced may be readily imagined. Pickle 
was prompt to promise the most angelic 
behavior on his part, while Prince in his 
quiet way pledged himself to strive for the 
highest honors in learning he could obtain, 


32 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURO. 

Master Hancock having an admirable sys- 
tem of promoting sound scholarship by fair 
competition. 

The next morning, habited in their second- 
best suits, for the proud little mother was 
anxious they should make a good appear- 
ance at the start, they accompanied their 
father to their new school. 

Now Master John Hancock was a very 
interesting character. A member of one 
of the best families in the Commonwealth, 
he had received a thorough education in 
his youth, and then gone forth to a career 
of enterprise and adventure on sea and land, 
from which he returned in early middle 
life minus his left arm and his right leg, 
having sacrificed both these members, the 
first at sea, and the second on shore, while 
fighting under the British flag. 

Like many another brave soldier, he now 
found himself with little, save a scanty 
pension and an honorable reputation, to 
live upon, and rather than be a charge on 
his friends he bethought himself of utiliz- 
ing his excellent education, which, happily, 


A CHANGE OF SCHOOLS. 33 

he had not suffered to lie dormant during 
his martial career. 

His repute as a man of both brains and 
bravery, supplemented by family influence, 
secured him many scholars from the start, 
and ere long he was the proud proprietor of 
one of the most successful educational estab- 
lishments of which Boston Town could boast. 

His erect military bearing ensured the 
respect of young and old at sight, and be- 
neath a somewhat stem exterior there was 
concealed one of the kindest hearts in the 
Commonwealth. 

Having never taken to himself a wife, 
he lavished upon his boys the affection 
that other men gave to their families, and 
so fond was he of his work that he really 
grudged the coming of holiday time, because 
it left him without his young companions. 

Such was the man to whom Prince and 
Pickle, with beating hearts and shy entreat- 
ing eyes, made their best bow as Mr. Pome- 
roy, his deep voice not altogether innocent 
of a tone of paternal pride, said : — 

“ Master Hancock, these are my boys, 
3 


34 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

Bradford and Sewall. As you perceive, 
they are twin brothers. But although their 
outward appearance is so similar, they 
differ much in disposition. I trust, how- 
ever, they will both comport themselves 
so as to give you little trouble and much 
pleasure to their parents.” 

During this elaborate speech, to which 
he listened with a fine blending of dignity 
and deference, Master Hancock w r as scru- 
tinizing his new charges through his clear 
gray eyes, and before there was any need 
for him to speak his mind was pretty well 
made up concerning them. 

“ This one,” he said to himself, “ will 
need wise yet firm treatment, but we shall 
soon, I trust, come to understand one an- 
other. The other will never give me trou- 
ble, and, unless all signs prove false, will 
ere long be a leader in learning. Together 
they make an unusually interesting pair, and 
I am very glad that they have come to me.” 

Then Mr. Pomeroy, having concluded his 
introductory remarks, Master Hancock, with 
a gracious bow to the boys, placed the hand 


A CHANGE OF SCHOOLS. 35 

that was left him upon Prince's shoulder, 
and said : — 

66 1 can assure you, sir, that I am proud 
to receive your fine boys into my school, 
where, I trust, they may be very diligent 
and happy in their work.” 

After a few more words, Mr. Pomeroy 
went on to business, leaving Prince and 
Pickle in the master’s hands. 

Master Hancock thoughtfully assigned 
them a corner whence they would command 
the large room in which the school was held. 

“For the present, you can just look 
about you, and get your bearings,” he said. 
a In due time I will give you your lessons. 
I need hardly caution you against indulging 
in conversation. That I never permit dur- 
ing school hours.” 

Their interest in the proceedings soon 
made them lose all sense of shyness, and 
since they must not speak, they nudged 
one another significantly, by way of ex- 
pressing their satisfaction with the way 
things were done. 

Master Hancock was a thorough disci- 


36 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

plinarian, without being a martinet, and 
the order prevailing in his establishment 
rendered it a worthy precursor of those 
military schools that now flourish in many 
of the States. 

When called up for recitation, the boys 
must stand “ at attention,” before him, 
their toes set truly to a black line in the 
floor, their shoulders squared, and their 
heads held well up. 

No slouching or resting upon only one 
foot was permitted, and when the lesson 
was finished, they broke rank, and marched 
to their seats with the precision of soldiers 
returning from “ sentry go.” 

Prince and Pickle were equally well 
pleased with what they saw. 

The former enjoyed the perfect order 
that prevailed, and the bright quick way in 
which the recitations were conducted. He 
had no misgivings about being able to hold 
his own, once he settled down to work, and 
he was already eager to take his place in 
the classes, and to pit himself against his 
schoolmates. 


A CHANGE OF SCHOOLS. 37 

Pickle, on the other hand, was de- 
lighted with the looks of the boys that 
were henceforth to be his companions. 
They seemed such sturdy, manly fellows 
that they were sure to prove capital play- 
mates, and he anticipated any amount of 
fun when he got well acquainted with 
them. 

As for Master Hancock's pupils they had 
already heard of the Pomeroys’ exploit, 
and regarding it with true boyish admi- 
ration, were ready to welcome Prince and 
Pickle warmly into their midst. 

Such gallant fellows could not fail to 
prove congenial companions, and so the 
twins found the way to the hearts of their 
associates wide open. 

When they returned from school, their 
mother was awaiting them, with a face full 
of eager solicitude. She was most anxious 
that they should have both created and 
received a good impression, for she knew 
well Mr. Pomeroy would sanction no more 
changes. 

“Well, my dears,” she said, after giving 


38 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

each a warm kiss, “ and how went it with 
you at Master Hancock’s to-day ? ” 

Pickle’s response was to toss his cap in 
the air, and execute a flourish with his feet 
that rendered words unnecessary. 

Prince, more considerate of his mother’s 
eagerness, proceeded at once to tell how 
everything had gone, and how favorably 
he was impressed by all he had seen and 
heard. 

“ Indeed, mother,” he concluded, “ I can- 
not tell you how happy I am at being 
taken away from Master Lovall’s and sent 
to Master Hancock’s. It is just a splendid 
school, is n’t it, Pickle ? ” 

On being thus appealed to, Pickle ceased 
his gyrations, and, coming up to his mother, 
gave her a hearty hug as he panted out : — 
“I should say it is a splendid school. 
I ’m going to get on finely there — see if 
I ’m not. Master Hancock knows how to 
keep noisy fellows like me in order, and 
without birching them too.” 

Mistress Pomeroy’s comely countenance 
beamed with satisfaction. Her boys were 


A CHANGE OF SCHOOLS. 


39 


thoroughly pleased with their new master, 
and she did not doubt but that the master 
was equally pleased with his new pupils. 

Now, there was one feature of Master 
Hancock’s institution that appealed to 
Pickle with especial force. 

The veteran soldier, in retiring from 
active service, carried with him unabated 
his love for martial exercises, and as soon 
as the number of his pupils permitted had 
organized them into a little company, which 
he himself instructed in military drill for 
an hour after school on three afternoons in 
the week. 

For this purpose, he had had a number 
of dummy muskets made, and each boy was 
urged to provide himself with a dark blue 
cap and a bright scarlet tunic, crossed by 
white shoulder-straps, so that when the 
whole company turned out, they looked 
very well indeed. 

Of course, this playing at soldiers was 
precisely to Pickle’s mind, and he lost no 
time in volunteering for “ active service” 
on Boston Common with the other boys. 


40 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

Nor was Prince less interested, although 
he took the matter more composedly. He 
was just the right material for a first-class 
soldier, and Mr. Pomeroy having readily 
sanctioned the procuring of the uniforms, 
he donned his with quite as much delight 
as his impetuous brother. 

It happened that soon after the twins 
joined the school, Master Hancock, being 
greatly pleased with the hearty interest 
shown by his boys in the drilling, deter- 
mined to go a step further, and add a small 
fife and drum corps to the little force. 

Like a wise man he kept his own coun- 
sel until the scheme was fully developed, 
and his mind was pretty well made up 
as to what boys should constitute the 
corps. Then he made his announcement 
as follows, — 

“ Scholars, attention ! ” 

Whereupon every face was turned towards 
him with an expression of lively expecta- 
tion, for the boys knew something of impor- 
tance was forthcoming. 

u I have been considering with much 


A CHANGE OF SCHOOLS. 41 

care/’ he went on, “ the formation of a fife 
and drum corps in connection with our 
little company.” 

Here a subdued yet unmistakable mur- 
mur of applause permeated the room, and 
he acknowledged it by permitting the 
shadow of a smile to play over his well- 
bronzed features. 

“ The idea has so commended itself to 
me that I have practically decided to at 
least make the experiment. It will for the 
most part rest with yourselves whether it 
prove a success or not. I should like to 
begin with four fifers and two drummers. 
Are there any of my scholars who are 
expert at either instrument ? ” 

The boys looked at each other in silence 
inquiringly, but no one spoke. Evidently 
their musical education had been neglected. 

Master Hancock seemed not a whit 
surprised. 

“ It is as I expected/’ he said smilingly. 
“ We yet have everything to learn. I will, 
therefore, proceed to select the players 
according to the best of my judgment.’ , 


42 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

Every boy was now strung to concert 
pitch, so to speak. Out of the more than 
twoscore composing the school, each hoped 
that he might be chosen for either fife or 
drum, and the master’s announcing of the 
fortunate ones was awaited with palpitat- 
ing eagerness. 

Looking around upon the scholars while 
the silence was so profound that they could 
hear their own hearts beat, he said in that 
clear, determined tone of his which was so 
conclusive : — 

“ For the fifes I shall select Bradford 
Pomeroy, Lemuel Higginson, John Endi- 
cott, and Gurdon Saltonstall ; and for the 
drums, Daniel Welde and Sewall Pomeroy.” 

As each boy’s name was uttered, the 
bearer of it broke into a broad grin of de- 
light, and was forthwith given congratulat- 
ing punches by his nearest neighbors. 

Upon the whole Master Hancock’s choice 
commended itself to the school. 

A few, it is true, were inclined to criti- 
cise the inclusion of both the Pomeroys in 
the corps, but they found little support 


A CHANGE OF SCHOOLS. 


43 


because the wonderful similarity of the 
twins seemed to render it fitting they 
should not be separated. 

Pickle was in the seventh heaven of joy. 
He would have been only too glad, of 
course, to play the fife, but to beat the 
drum was far more to his taste, and, hardly 
aware of what he was about, he began a 
tattoo upon the top of his desk with his 
finger-tips. 

In his choice of the fifers Master Hancock 
had been guided by what he knew of the 
boys' ability at whistling, which he rightly 
reasoned would make the mastery of their 
shrill little instrument all the easier to 
acquire. 

But in selecting the drummers he had 
pitched upon the two liveliest of his pupils, 
thinking it well that their superabundant 
energies should be expended upon the drum 
heads, where they would do good service. 

And so the Hancock’s School Fife and 
Drum Corps was duly organized, and it now 
remained for its happy members to learn 
how to play their instruments. 


CHAPTER IV. 


AT CLOSE QUARTERS. 

T3ICKLE forthwith gave himself with 
characteristic ardor to learning how 
to drum, while Prince in a less demonstra- 
tive but no less determined way set about 
mastering the fife. 

Fortunately, there lived near by their 
own home a veteran soldier, who, having 
served for many years as bandsman in one 
of his Majesty’s regiments, was familiar 
with both fife and drum. 

So to Band- Sergeant Hampden went the 
two boys, carrying their instruments, and 
respectfully petitioning for the benefit of a 
few lessons. 

The retired Band-Sergeant was only too 
delighted to be their teacher. It warmed 
his old blood to revive his knowledge of 
martial music, and even if his fingers were 



/ 





AT CLOSE QUARTERS. 


45 


a trifle stiff, and his breath provokingly 
scant just when he needed them most, he 
managed to perform amazingly well, con- 
sidering his age. 

The Pomeroys thought him a perfect 
marvel, and wondered if they could ever 
attain such skill. They would do their 
very best, at all events, and so they prac- 
tised vigorously at every opportunity, until 
at last their father although he took quite 
an indulgent view of the whole proceedings, 
was fain to banish them to an outhouse at 
the foot of the garden, where they could 
bang and blow away without disturbing 
anybody. 

Now, be it known, that for some time 
past there had existed what would be 
called by diplomats very strained relations 
between the boys of Master Hancock’s and 
Master Lovall’s respective establishments. 

For this condition of affairs Master 
Lovall himself was mainly responsible. 
His school had been nearly a decade in 
operation before Master Hancock entered 
the educational field, and the older peda- 


46 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

gogue took very much to heart what he 
was pleased to consider the unwarrantable 
intrusion of his rival. 

The success which presently attended 
the new-comer’s enterprise naturally did 
not have a soothing influence upon the 
other’s feelings. 

On the contrary, it fanned them into 
active enmity, and Master Lovall lost no 
chance of jeering at Master Hancock’s 
“ new-fangled methods,” and of expressing 
his contempt for the man himself. 

The formation of the little military com- 
pany gave him a fine opportunity, of which 
he did not fail to avail himself ; and he so 
far forgot his own dignity as to let the 
venom that was in his heart drip from his 
tongue in the presence of his pupils. 

As a matter of course, little as they 
loved their tyrannical taskmaster, a spirit 
of esprit de corps that did them credit 
moved them to espouse his cause with true 
boyish fervor, and they came to look 
upon those attending the Hancock School 
as their natural enemies. 


AT CLOSE QUARTERS. 


47 


At first this hostility was manifested 
simply by individual encounters of a more 
or less trifling character. 

When a Lovall boy fell out with a Han- 
cock boy while engaged in play, they 
always came to blows far sooner than if 
both the disputants belonged to the same 
school, and the struggle was certain to be 
much more severe. 

Before long this antagonistic temper 
became so pronounced that the boys could 
not join in a simple game of wicket with 
any hope of its proceeding amiably to a 
conclusion ; and a friendly match that was 
arranged for one Saturday afternoon re- 
sulted in a free fight, in which the bats 
were used on both sides with effect, as 
several broken heads testified. 

This disturbance, while it put an end 
to the matches, and indeed to all friendly 
intercourse between the boys of the two 
schools, led to a series of attacks and 
reprisals made by bands from both estab- 
lishments, that seized upon any of their 
“ enemies ” they encountered, and gave 


48 FIFE AND DKUM AT LOUISBOUKG. 

them a good pummelling before releasing 
them. 

Pickle, as a matter of course, entered 
heart and soul into this mimic war. It 
was royal fun for him, and as he was a 
very good hand at looking after himself, 
and particularly fleet of foot, he for some 
time escaped capture at the hands of the 
Lovall boys, although they often laid in 
wait for him. 

But neither his adroitness nor his luck 
could avail altogether against the persis- 
tent efforts of the enemy, and so it came 
about that one evening when he and Prince 
were returning from Sergeant Hampden’s 
after a very satisfactory practice, they fell 
into a snare cleverly laid for them. 

There was a certain narrow, obscure 
street that afforded a short cut to their 
home, and when they came to this, Pickle 
turned into it, saying, — 

“ This will save us going around.” 

“ Stay, Pickle,” exclaimed Prince, catch- 
ing his brother’s arm to detain him, 
“ would it not be better to go around ? 


AT CLOSE QUARTERS. 49 

There may be some of the Lovall boys 
looking out for us.” 

“ And what if there are, Prince ? ” re- 
plied Pickle, jerking himself free and going 
on. “ We can take care of ourselves all 
right, and if they ’re too many for us, we 
can run away from them easily.” 

Prince shook his head dubiously, and did 
not move. He was by no means anxious 
to have a brush with the other boys when 
he was carrying his beloved fife. They 
would be sure to snatch it from him and 
possibly break it in pieces, for he knew 
they were all very jealous of the fife and 
drum corps. 

“ Oh, come on, Prince,” cried Pickle, im- 
petuously grasping his brother by the coat, 
and dragging him along. “ There are 
none of the Lo vails about, and we’ll be 
home in a few minutes anyway.” 

Persuaded against his better judgment 
Prince said : — 

“ Very well, then, but let us quicken 
our pace ; ” and so they hastened down the 
street. 


4 


50 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

They had reached the middle of it, and 
even Prince was beginning to think his 
apprehensions groundless, when out from 
a blind alley that branched off to their 
right there rushed upon them no less than 
six of their enemies, shouting triumph- 
antly : — 

“ Now we ’ve got you ! We ’ll give you 
a lesson ! You sha’n’t escape a good 
thrashing this time.” 

The Pomeroys had no time to deliberate 
as to whether they should show fight or flee, 
for the Lovalls took them captive at once, 
and proceeded to thump them soundly with 
their clenched fists. 

Pickle had his drum swinging upon his 
back, while Prince’s fife was bestowed in 
an inner pocket. Both, therefore, had 
their hands free, and, after the first sur- 
prise, they struck out right lustily, return- 
ing blow for blow, so far as they were able. 

With such skill and strength did they de- 
fend themselves that, outnumbered though 
they were, they succeeded in shaking off 
their assailants for a moment, and took ad- 


AT CLOSE QUARTERS. 


51 


vantage of the brief respite to win a coigne 
of vantage in the shape of a flight of stone 
steps with iron railings at the side. 

Gaining the topmost of these in a couple 
of panther-like leaps, they turned to face 
their antagonists, who were given pause 
by the sight of two pairs of well-shod feet 
ready for immediate action. 

Snarling and jeering and calling names, 
the Lovalls surged about the steps, no one 
of the six aspiring to the honor of leading 
the charge, and there not being room for 
more than two abreast. 

Both Prince and Pickle had now com- 
pletely recovered their balance, which had 
been somewhat upset by the sudden attack, 
and began to feel the exhilaration of their 
exciting situation. 

So far they certainly had the best of it, 
since although they were both of them 
pretty well thumped, they had paid their 
assailants back in their own coin hand- 
somely, and honors were easy at all 
events. 

“ We must n’t let them get up the steps, 


52 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

Prince/' whispered Pickle, “ even if we 
have to kick them off.” 

Pickle, rightly enough, regarded the use 
of the feet as unworthy of a fair fighter, 
but this was a peculiar emergency, which 
justified recourse to any means of defence. 

Convinced that they could not carry the 
steps without some of their number getting 
harder knocks than they had counted upon 
at the start, the Lovall boys ceased active 
hostilities, while they considered some 
other plan of campaign. 

To their shame he it told, that at this 
point the counsel of one of their number, 
a true bully- and coward, who had done 
more shouting and less fighting than any 
of his companions, commanded attention. 

“ Pelt them with stones,” he hissed 
angrily ; u there are plenty in the street.” 

Abominable as the suggestion was, the 
others, enraged at the stout defence made 
by the Pomeroys, after a moment’s hesi- 
tation, due to a struggle with their better 
natures, proceeded to act upon it. 

Three remaining to guard the foot of the 


AT CLOSE QUARTERS. 


53 


steps, the rest hastened to pick up stones, 
and then, extending their arms in readiness 
to throw, they called out : — 

“ Now, will you come down ? or will you 
stay there to be pelted ? ” 

The faces of both the besieged boys in- 
stantly became scarlet with indignation. 
Up to this point, in spite of the great dis- 
crepancy in numbers, they had thought the 
game fair enough. 

If half a dozen Hancocks had chanced 
upon a couple of Lovalls, they would no 
doubt have acted in very much the same 
way as regards the mauling and thumping. 

But to resort to stoning — that was un- 
speakably mean, and they could hardly 
find language to express their feelings. 

“ You dare not stone us,” cried Pickle, 
drawing himself up and facing them with 
flashing eyes, curling lips, and clenched 
fists. “That would be dastardly. Can’t 
you play fair ? You ’re three to one. What 
more do you want ? ” 

Prince kept silence, but the utter con- 
tempt shown on his face should have 


54 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

caused every hand that held a stone to let 
it drop at once. 

Yet the response of the Lovalls was to 
hurl the stones, one of which struck Prince 
on the shoulder, while the others clattered 
harmlessly against the house. 

Prince gave a shudder, and shrank back 
when the stone hit him ; then coming for- 
ward again, he faced his assailants fear- 
lessly, crying out in a clear steady voice : — 
“You miserable cowards! You ought 
to be ashamed of yourselves ! Is that what 
you call fair sport ? ” 

At this, some of them did seem inclined 
to go no further, but the mean fellow who 
had suggested the stone throwing, there- 
upon began to taunt them with being 
chicken-hearted, and they were about to 
send a second volley at the defenceless 
Pomeroys, when the upper end of the street 
was suddenly filled by a crowd of the Han- 
cock boys returning from a game of wicket. 

At sight of their school-fellows, Pickle 
instantly sent out a piercing cry of, — 

“ Help, Hancocks, help ! ” 


AT CLOSE QUARTERS. 


55 


One glance into the street was sufficient 
to make clear the situation to the new- 
comers, and the next moment they were 
charging down upon the Lovalls at the top 
of their speed, waving their bats and wickets 
above their heads as they shouted : — 

“ Down with the Lovalls ! Give it to 
them ! Give it to them ! ” 

The Lovalls made no pretence of stand- 
ing their ground. They were now out- 
numbered in their turn, and they fled 
incontinently. 

As they had a good head start, the 
chances were all in their favor, and they 
did succeed in getting away unscathed, 
with one exception. 

This was the bully who had instigated 
the stone throwing, and whose missile it 
was which had struck Prince. 

He bore the appropriate if unflattering 
name of “Piggie” Tuthill, and was un- 
questionably the most disliked in the Lovall 
school. 

He was so absorbed in selecting a suit- 
able stone, which he fully intended aiming 


56 FIFE AND DRUM AT .LOUISBOURG. 

at Pickle’s face, that he did not take in the 
situation at once, and ere he could join in 
the rout, both Pickle and Prince were upon 
him, gripping him tight. 

He was much bigger than either of them, 
and he fought fiercely to throw them off, 
even trying to use his teeth, and not scru- 
pling to kick like the brute that he was. 

But in spite of kicks and curses, the 
twins maintained their hold until their 
school-fellows came up, and forthwith pro- 
ceeded to belabor Piggie with their bats so 
stoutly, that he ceased all resistance and 
yelled for mercy. 

“ What were they doing to you ? ” de- 
manded the relief party, feeling in fine 
fettle for some mischief ; “ were they stoning 
you?” 

“ Yes, they were,” responded Pickle. 
“ And that’s the fellow that put them up to 
it ; ” giving Piggie a smart dig in the ribs 
by way of emphasizing his accusation. 

A shout of indignation arose at this, and 
hapless Piggie was like to be made a foot- 
ball of, when Prince interposed: — 


AT CLOSE QUARTERS. 


57 


“ Don't maul him, boys/' he said in that 
quiet firm way which always carried such 
influence with his companions. Then with 
a roguish twinkle of his eye he added : — 

“ He looks as if he ’d be the better for 
a dip. What say to giving him one in the 
Frog Pond ? ” 

The proposition was greeted with a howl 
of delight from the Hancock boys, and of 
dismay from Tuthill, who made a desperate 
effort to break away. 

But all his struggles were futile, and one 
of the boys deftly gagged him with a hand- 
kerchief lest his furious cries should attract 
too much attention. 

Hustling him along as fast as they could 
they made their way tumultuously to the 
Common, now almost deserted, as supper 
time was near. 

Selecting the part of the pond where the 
water was deepest, they removed the gag 
from Piggie’s mouth, and then with a 
united effort tumbled him pell-mell into 
the water. 

That the big fellow could not swim 


58 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

never entered their heads, for, in spite of 
the tithingmen, one of whose duties it was 
to keep the boys from bathing in the river 
or harbor, they were all good swimmers 
themselves. 

But, to their dismay, instead of rising to 
the surface, and striking out for the shore, 
as they fully expected him to do, Piggie 
made even a worse business of it than does 
the animal after which he was nicknamed. 

He splashed about quite helplessly, and 
seemed in actual danger of drowning. 

For a moment the boys were so appalled 
at their victim’s peril that they watched 
him without making any move towards 
rescue. 

Then Prince’s clear head showed itself. 

“ He ’ll drown there if he is n’t helped 
at once,” he exclaimed. “Come, Pickle, 
help me get him out.” 

And without more ado he plunged into 
the pond, followed so closely by his brother 
that the two made but one big splash, 
while the other boys gave them a cheer 
of admiration and encouragement. 


CHAPTER V. 


IN WHICH AN EXTRAORDINARY ENTERPRISE 
IS BROACHED. 

HTHE Pomeroys could both swim like 
^ mermen, but they found they had 
undertaken no easy task in going to Piggie 
Tuthill’s rescue. 

The big fellow was simply frantic with 
fright, and no sooner did they reach him 
than he seized hold of Pickle in so desperate 
a fashion that the poor boy became utterly 
helpless, and had he been alone, would cer- 
tainly have been drowned along with the 
one he sought to save. 

But Prince saw the whole danger, and, 
grasping Piggie by the collar, not only held 
him above the surface, but shoved him 
shoreward sufficiently for the boys, who 
were stretching out as far as possible, to 
get a grip of him and Pickle and pull them 
both ashore. 


60 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

When it was all over, and Piggie, who 
as soon as he had regained his breath ex- 
hausted it again in threats of vengeance, 
had taken himself off, looking most absurd 
in his dripping, muddy condition, the Han- 
cock boys began to realize that they had 
probably gone too far in their fun, and 
that awkward consequences might ensue. 

Prince and Pickle went home in a very 
sober mood, and before they reached the 
house, had arrived at the conclusion to 
make a clean breast of the whole affair 
without waiting for their parents to hear 
of it through another channel. 

Accordingly, taking the bull by the horns, 
so to speak, they went straight into the 
room where the rest of the family had 
already gathered for supper, and stood just 
inside the door, all dripping and dishevelled 
as they were. 

“ Why, my boys, what has happened?” 
exclaimed Mistress Pomeroy, the expres- 
sion of concern that first showed upon her 
face being rapidly succeeded by one of 
amusement at the ludicrous plight of her 


AN EXTRAORDINARY ENTERPRISE. 61 

twin sons. “Where did you tumble into 
the water, and what made you do it ? ” 

“ We both jumped in ourselves,” replied 
Prince, giving an anxious glance at his 
father, who was regarding him and Pickle 
with a look of stern inquiry. 

Pickle, who always allowed Prince to 
take the lead in getting out of a scrape, 
although he was usually first in getting 
into it, nodded in confirmation of his 
brother’s statement, and just at this point 
the laughter of the other children, no longer 
to be restrained, burst forth in a chorus 
that carried away Mistress Pomeroy. 

But the head of the household relaxed 
not the sternness of his countenance, and 
hushed the merry clamor with a com- 
manding, — 

“ Cease your foolishness, and you, Brad- 
ford, proceed to explain why you and 
Sewall present yourselves in this extraor- 
dinary state.” 

The merriment subsided at once, and 
Prince, taking his stand by his mother’s 
chair, for he felt the need of the sympathy 


62 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

he well knew she was giving him, began 
his tale, Pickle listening with as anxious 
attention, as if his very life depended upon 
the accuracy of the narration. 

Mr. Pomeroy heard it in grim silence, 
and no one else, not even his wife, dared 
to speak. 

Prince always related anything clearly. 
He had a logical, well-balanced mind, and a 
positive gift for narrative, and when, as in 
this case, he was practically pleading his 
own and his brother’s case, he was inspired 
to do his very best. 

So the whole story was graphically pre- 
sented ; the jealousy of Master Lovall, the 
hostility between the boys that grew from 
it, the Lovalls’ envy of the Hancock Mili- 
tary Company in general, and of the fife 
and drum corps in particular, and then the 
waylaying in the lane, the sturdy defence, 
the attack with stones, and the timely 
appearance of the Hancock contingent. 

“ And whose notion was it that that boy 
whom you so improperly designate as 
c Piggie ’ should be cast into the pond ? ” 


AN EXTRAORDINARY ENTERPRISE. 63 

demanded Mr. Pomeroy, not a line of 
his austere countenance relaxing in the 
slightest. 

“ It was mine, sir,” responded Prince, to 
the distinct surprise of his father, who had 
fully anticipated an acknowledgment from 
Pickle. 

“ Yours indeed, Bradford ! ” exclaimed 
Mr. Pomeroy, feeling perhaps more put 
out at his judgment being astray than at 
his son’s action. “ And what put such a 
shameful idea into your head ? ” 

“ I ’m sure I don’t know, sir,” Prince 
replied humbly. “ It just came, and I said 
it out. I was very angry with Piggie — 
I mean Tuthill — for hitting me with the 
stone.” 

“ And who was the first to leap into 
the pond when Tuthill seemed to be in 
danger of drowning ? ” was Mr. Pomeroy’s 
next question. 

“ We both jumped in about the same 
time,” answered Prince, still maintain- 
ing his downcast demeanor. 

“ Oh, no, sir,” broke out Pickle, speak- 


64 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

ing for the first time since entering the 
room. “ Prince jumped in first, and I 
followed him so as to help him. Piggie is 
such a big clumsy fellow.” 

There were now some signs of softening 
in Mr. Pomeroy’s features, which the keen- 
sighted little mother did not fail to note, 
and seizing the opportunity, she suggested 
in her gentlb way : — 

“ Don’t you think, dear, it would be 
wise for the boys to go to their room now, 
and put on dry clothes \ They might 
suffer harm for staying so long in this 
dripping condition.” 

Mr. Pomeroy was silent for a moment, as 
if he might not have heard his wife’s words. 
Then, bending his eyes sternly on the two 
boys, he said : — 

“ Get you gone, and change your clothes. 
I shall have something further to say to 
you later on.” 

It was not until bedtime drew near that 
he took up the matter again, and now it 
was evident that he felt disposed to a more 
lenient view of his sons’ doings. 


AN EXTRAORDINARY ENTERPRISE. 65 

Yet he administered a pretty severe re- 
proof, and concluded by announcing his 
intention of calling upon both Master Han- 
cock and Master Lovall the following day, 
and requiring them to put an end to the 
foolish strife between their boys without 
delay. 

It was not his way to utter idle threats. 
Whatever he committed himself to, that he 
never failed to carry out, if it were at all 
possible. 

Accordingly, the next day he had inter- 
views with both the masters, in the course 
of which he expressed himself very plainly 
as to the state of things which he pro- 
nounced most shameful, demanding that 
they take immediate steps to rectify 
matters. 

Master Lovall, cherishing the grudge 
that he did against Mr. Pomeroy for having 
taken his boys away from the school, was 
at first disposed to adopt the high hand, 
and to ignore Mr. Pomeroy’s demand. 

But the latter presently brought him to 
his senses. 


5 


66 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

“ Hark ye,” he said in his sternest tone. 
“ Beware how you set yourself against me, 
lest I be the instrument of taking from you 
not only my own sons, but many others 
also.” 

Now this was no empty threat, as Master 
Lovall well knew. Mr. Pomeroy had much 
influence in the community, and were he to 
address himself in earnest to the task of 
emptying the school, he would assuredly 
carry it out most effectually. 

Putting a stiff curb upon his choler, there- 
fore, Master Lovall, with as good a grace 
as he could muster, agreed to inquire into 
the matter, and to take steps to amend it. 

Master Hancock received Mr. Pomeroy 
in an altogether different spirit. Listening 
attentively to the worthy merchant’s re- 
cital, he expressed genuine surprise at 
affairs having reached such a pass, and 
assured him that he would without delay 
take effective measures to prevent any 
recurrence of the hostile encounter. 

This he did as soon as Mr. Pomeroy left, 
by suspending the ordinary exercises, while 


AN EXTRAORDINARY ENTERPRISE. 67 

in his own direct, forceful way he told his 
boys what he had just heard, and without 
calling any of them to account for the past, 
laid upon them strict injunctions to guard 
against any continuance of the strife. 

“ If it comes to my knowledge that any 
of my scholars is to blame for any further 
collision, that boy will be expelled from 
the school. You are of course free to de- 
fend yourselves properly, should you be un- 
warrantably assailed, but you must not 
provoke an encounter on pain of expulsion/' 

Now the boys knew perfectly well that 
the master meant every word he spoke, 
and as there was not one of them who was 
not fond of the school, and proud of belong- 
ing to it, they consequently obeyed him to 
the letter. 

Master Lovall, on his part, threatened his 
boys with dire punishment if they got em- 
broiled with the hated Hancock fellows ; and 
so the feud came to a sudden end, although 
there was little change in the mutual feel- 
ings of the two schools. 

About this time, the staid and sober 


68 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

New England commonwealth began to be 
strongly stirred concerning an enterprise so 
quixotic upon the face of it that it was a 
marvel the hard-headed posterity of the 
Puritans did not laugh it to scorn at the 
very outset, even though it had no less a 
personage than the Governor himself for 
its sponsor. 

To clearly understand the matter, an ex- 
cursion into history becomes necessary, for 
which recourse shall be had to the brilliant 
pages of Parkman. 

The Peace of Utrecht had left altogether 
unsettled the perilous questions of boundary 
between the rival powers in North America, 
and these grew more perilous every day. 

Nevertheless the quarrel was not yet 
ripe ; and though the French Governor, 
Yaudreuil, and perhaps also his successor 
Beauharnois, seemed willing to precipitate 
it, the courts of London and Versailles still 
hesitated to appeal to the sword. 

Now, as before, it was a European, and 
not an American, quarrel that was to set 
the world on fire. The war of the Aus- 


AN EXTRAORDINARY ENTERPRISE. 69 

trian Succession broke out in 1744. When 
Frederick of Prussia seized Silesia and be- 
gan that bloody conflict, it meant that packs 
of howling savages would again spread 
fire and carnage along the New England 
border. 

The news of the declaration of war 
reached Louisbourg, the French stronghold 
in Cape Breton, some weeks before it was 
known in Boston, and the French Gov- 
ernor, Duquesnel, thought he saw a fine 
opportunity to strike a blow for the profit 
of France and his own great honor before 
the English had time to get ready. 

Accordingly, he equipped a military ex- 
pedition with all haste, and despatched it 
against Canseau, a small fishing hamlet on 
the Nova Scotia side of the strait of that 
name which separates Cape Breton from 
the mainland. 

The attacking force comprised nearly a 
thousand soldiers and sailors, escorted by 
two armed vessels ; and as the whole de- 
fences of Canseau consisted of an insignifi- 
cant wooden redoubt built by the fishermen, 


70 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

and the available garrison of less than a 
hundred Englishmen was utterly unpre- 
pared, the French had matters all their 
own way. 

The English promptly surrendered on 
condition of being sent to Boston, the mis- 
erable hamlet with its absurd little wooden 
fort was burned to the ground, and the 
“ gallant ” invaders rejoiced over the smok- 
ing ruins. 

Flushed by this first success, Governor 
Duquesnel now aspired to the taking of 
Annapolis, for this, if accomplished, meant 
the capture of all Acadia. 

Duvivier was sent in command of the 
expedition, which comprised only a hundred 
regular troops, but some four hundred 
Micmac and Malacite Indians. 

Annapolis at this time was in such a 
state of neglect that its sandy ramparts 
were crumbling into the moat, and the 
cows belonging to the garrison pastured 
peacefully over them. 

The garrison consisted of about a hun- 
dred effective men under command of 


AN EXTRAORDINARY ENTERPRISE. 71 

Major Mascarene, to whom Governor Shir- 
ley of Massachusetts had added a small 
company of militia ; but as most of these 
latter came without arms, and Mascarene 
had few or none to give them, their as- 
sistance was not very substantial. 

It was in the month of August when 
Duvivier and his followers, white and red, 
appeared before Annapolis, and, making 
their camp behind the ridge of a hill that 
overlooked the fort, lost no time in march- 
ing boldly towards the ramparts. 

But a timely discharge of cannon-shot 
wrought a sudden change of mind, and 
giving up all thoughts of an immediate 
assault, they waited until darkness, when 
they began a fusillade that kept the gar- 
rison on the alert all night. 

Then followed three long weeks of desul- 
tory attack, during which there was no 
attempt made by the French to carry the 
place by storm ; but the defenders were 
never allowed to be at ease except during 
a brief truce. 

Duvivier was anxiously awaiting rein- 


72 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

forcements from Louisbourg, whence two 
armed vessels, the “ Ardent ” and the 
“ Caribou/’ were expected to follow. But 
the days dragged by without any sign of 
the vessels, and when at last two did ap- 
pear they proved to be not the French 
frigates, but a couple of schooners sent 
from Boston by Governor Shirley to the 
aid of his beleaguered compatriots. 

They had aboard them more than two- 
score Indian rangers, and the arrival of 
these doughty fighters so discouraged the 
besiegers that towards the end of Sep- 
tember they suddenly broke camp and 
vanished. 

As the unknown Habitant de Louisbourg 
quaintly and forcibly expressed it in his 
precious letter, “ The expedition was a 
failure, though one might have bet every- 
thing on its success, so small was the force 
that the enemy had to resist us.” 

Now these attacks upon Canseau and 
Annapolis, although they resulted in no 
material advantage to the French, alarmed 
and exasperated the “ Bastonnais,” as the 


AN EXTRAORDINARY ENTERPRISE. 73 

invaders called the New Englanders, and 
engendered in some heated brains a project 
of wild audacity. 

This was no less than the capture of 
Louisbourg, then reputed to be the strong- 
est fortress, French or British, in North 
America, with the possible exception of 
Quebec. 

Louisbourg was a standing menace to all 
the Northern British colonies, for it was 
such a haunt of privateers as to be called 
the American Dunkirk. 

It commanded the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 
the gateway to Canada, and threatened to 
ruin the Bank fisheries, which were of vital 
importance to New England. The French 
Government had spent a quarter of a cen- 
tury and not less than thirty million livres 
upon its powerful defences. 

Such was the stronghold which William 
Vaughan of Damariscotta advised Governor 
Shirley of Massachusetts to attack with a 
force of raw New England Militia ! 


CHAPTER VI. 


A MOMENTOUS DECISION. 


r' OVERNOR SHIRLEY, who had filled 
his honorable position very credit- 
ably for nearly fifteen years, was a man 
of good ability and a sincere well-wisher 
to the province whose affairs he directed, 
but was gnawed by an insatiable hunger 
for distinction. 

This caused him to lend a willing ear to 
Vaughan’s wild suggestion, and he resolved 
to lay it before the Assembly without loss 
of time. 

Accordingly, in the month of January, 
1745, the General Court of Massachusetts — 
a convention of grave city merchants, and 
solemn rustics from the country villages — 
was astonished by a message from the 
Governor to the effect that he had a com- 
munication to make of so critical a charac- 


A MOMENTOUS DECISION. 75 

ter that he wished the whole body to swear 
secrecy. 

The request was novel, but being then 
on better terms with Shirley than the 
Colonial Assemblies usually were with their 
Governor, the representatives consented, 
and took the oath. 

Then, to their profound amazement, 
Shirley invited them to undertake forth- 
with the capture of Louisbourg. 

The idea of an attack upon that re- 
doubtable fortress was not altogether new. 
Since the destruction of Canseau, and the 
futile attempt upon Annapolis, there had 
been proposals heard to petition England to 
make the venture, with the colonies giving 
their best aid. 

But that Massachusetts, though already 
bankrupt, should try it alone (or with 
such doubtful help as the neighboring 
colonies might afford), without the approval 
of the British Government, and without 
experienced officers or trained soldiers, was 
certainly enough to set the sober-minded 
legislators a-thinking. 


76 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

They asked for time to consider the prop- 
osition, and then to Governor Shirley’s 
keen disappointment voted to have nothing 
to do with it. 

In spite of the oath of secrecy, the matter 
got out, the strange news flew through the 
town, and soon spread all over the prov- 
ince. 

Now one of the members of the Assembly 
was Mr. Preserved Pomeroy, and he had 
been inclined to look favorably upon the 
Governor’s project, but was outvoted by 
his fellow legislators. 

He was moved by more than one reason 
to desire the reduction of the French for- 
tress. Being heartily interested in the Gulf 
fisheries, his vessels were endangered by the 
privateers which made that place their 
rendezvous 3 again, he was a fervently 
loyal subject of the crown, and cordially 
detested everything and everybody French ; 
and finally his religious zeal, amouuting 
almost to fanaticism, caused him to regard 
the believers in the Pope as little better 
than incarnate devils whom it was doing 


A MOMENTOUS DECISION. 77 

good service to God to destroy off: the face 
of the earth. 

A few days after the rejection by the 
Assembly of Shirley’s proposal, Mr. Pomeroy 
saw the Governor walking slowly down 
King Street with his head bowed down as 
if in deep dejection. 

Turning into the merchant’s counting- 
room, he drew himself up and abruptly 
asked him : — 

“ Pomeroy, do you feel like giving up the 
expedition to Louisbourg?” 

“No, your Excellency, I do not,” re- 
sponded Mr. Pomeroy, “ but the vote went 
so greatly against it that I fear there is an 
end of it, although in truth I have been 
wishing that the Assembly might reconsider 
the matter.” 

“You are the very man I want,” ex- 
claimed the Governor excitedly, all his 
dejection vanishing as he put out his hand, 
and, grasping Mr. Pomeroy’s, shook it 
warmly. “We’ll draw up a petition for 
reconsideration right away, and get as many 
signatures to it as possible.’’ 


78 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

They accordingly drew up the petition, 
which Mr. Pomeroy not only signed himself, 
but promised to get the merchants of Boston, 
Salem, Marblehead, and other seacoast 
towns to sign also. 

In this he w r as completely successful, for 
all New England merchants looked on 
Louisbourg as their archenemy. 

The petition was presented, and the mat- 
ter came again before the Assembly, where 
Mr. Pomeroy supported the proposal with a 
vigor and rude eloquence that astonished 
his friends, who now saw him in a new light. 

After a lengthy and somewhat heated 
debate, the plan was carried by a single 
vote, to the great joy of Governor Shirley 
and his supporters. 

The die thus being cast, all alike set 
themselves to push on the work. Shirley 
invited the other colonies to co-operate, but 
with one consent they made excuse, except 
Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode 
Island, so that the whole burden of the 
enterprise fell upon the four New England 
provinces. 


A MOMENTOUS DECISION. 


79 


But self-interest, patriotism, and religious 
zeal inspired the New Englanders, and they 
were not to be daunted even by such sneers 
as that of Benjamin Franklin, who wrote to 
his brother in Boston : “ Fortified towns 
are hard nuts to crack, and your teeth are 
not accustomed to it ; but some seem to 
think that forts are as easy taken as snuff:.” 

Throughout Massachusetts the enterprise 
was regarded in much the same light as 
the Crusades had been in Europe, and there 
was a certain pastor Moody, who preached 
a holy war against the Roman Catholics 
with no less fervor than did Peter the 
Hermit the recovery of the Holy Land from 
the infidel. 

With Mr. Pomeroy, this was by far the 
strongest impulse. He fully believed that 
the taking of Louisbourg would be a glori- 
ous service to the cause of true religion, 
and it was a matter of keen regret that he 
could not shoulder a musket himself and 
take part in the siege. 

This, however, was rendered impracti- 
cable by his state of health, he being a 


80 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

sufferer from rheumatism to a degree that 
put a soldier’s life out of the question. 

Although he had of his own accord sub- 
scribed the sum of five hundred pounds 
towards the expenses of the expedition, — a 
very handsome amount indeed in those 
days, — he was not content. He was reluc- 
tant that his own family should not partici- 
pate in the pious undertaking, and he cast 
about him for a solution of the problem. 

His oldest son could not be spared from 
the business, where he would be needed 
more than ever. The second boy was of 
altogether too studious and shy a disposi- 
tion to be of any use in so arduous an 
enterprise. 

But why not the twins ? They were now 
full sixteen years of age, and such fine 
sturdy fellows withal that they might 
readily be supposed quite two years older. 
They could easily be spared from school 
for a few months, and, moreover, they 
possessed the qualifications of being able 
to play the fife and drum and of having 
some knowledge of drill. 


A MOMENTOUS DECISION. 


81 


“ Bradford and Sewall it shall be ! ” ex- 
claimed their father, as the result of his 
deliberations ; and forthwith he went to 
Governor Shirley and offered the services 
of his twin sons. 

The Governor accepted them instantly. 
Two such boys could not fail to be of use 
in one capacity or another, and so without 
their knowing anything about it Prince 
and Pickle were enrolled for the Louisbourg 
expedition. 

That they themselves would be only too 
delighted at this Mr. Pomeroy rightly 
enough had no doubt, but of what their 
mother would feel and say he had no 
doubt either, and the question of the best 
way of putting the matter before her gave 
the worthy man no small concern. 

Therefore, although he could never at 
any time be considered vivacious, particu- 
larly in the bosom of his family, he was 
more than usually abstracted and silent 
when he came home after his interview 
with Governor Shirley, so that his wife, 
whose fond eyes were keen to note his 
6 


82 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

every mood, said to liim with an anxious 
note in her voice : — 

“ What is troubling you, my dear ? Have 
you been suffering loss in business, or had 
some other mischance ? ” 

It was not just the fitting time to re- 
lieve his mind of what was upon it, so, 
calling up a smile of reassurance, he said, 
as he laid his big hand affectionately upon 
her plump shoulder : — 

“ Nothing of that kind, beloved, God be 
thanked, but there is something else in my 
thoughts of which I shall tell thee presently.” 

When their children had retired for the 
night (and it was “ early to bed, early to 
rise,” in those good old days) Mr. Pomeroy, 
putting down the portly volume of Puritan 
theology which he had been only pretend- 
ing to read, for his brain teemed with 
other thoughts, said to his wife : — 

“ Draw your chair hither, beloved, now 
that we may converse without hindrance.” 

Much marvelling what was to come, 
yet too discreet to show impatience, Mrs. 
Pomeroy placed a low stool beside her hus- 


A MOMENTOUS DECISION. 83 

band’s big arm-chair, and, seating herself 
so that she could rest her arm upon his 
knee, and look up into his face, awaited 
his communication with quickened pulse. 

Looking elsewhere than into her comely 
countenance, he began by asking : — 

“ You have heard much about this ex- 
pedition for the taking of Louisbourg which 
Governor Shirley is so busy organizing, 
have you not, Mary ? ” 

“ I have indeed, dear,” she answered 
with a thrill of concern, for she had all 
along been fearing lest her husband should 
feel called upon to join it in spite of his 
physical disability. “ I confess it seems to 
me a wild adventure, but with the blessing 
of God upon it perchance it may succeed, 
as I pray it will.” 

“ Aye — aye, beloved,” said Mr. Pomeroy, 
nodding approvingly. “ That is it. With 
the blessing of God — for with Him all 
things are possible — and surely His bless- 
ing will not be withheld when we are seek- 
ing His glory, and the good of His cause 
through the overthrow of Antichrist.” 


84 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

As he spoke his rugged countenance lit 
up with the glow of religious fervor, and his 
hand clenched hard, as though it grasped 
the hilt of a sword. 

Mrs. Pomeroy was silent, still wondering 
what would follow. 

“ I have contributed according to my 
ability towards the necessary expenses of 
the enterprise/' Mr. Pomeroy continued, 
“ and I would gladly join it myself/’ — here 
his wife gave a little shudder, and pressed 
more closely to his side, — “ were it not that 
my poor body is manifestly unfit to with- 
stand the inevitable hardships, and I must 
abide at home, although sorely against my 
will;” and he paused to heave a great 
sigh that came from the depth of his 
heart, while Mrs. Pomeroy hid her face 
in her hands that he might not see its 
radiance. 

“ Yet I cannot be content with simply 
giving of my means and my counsel to- 
wards this godly enterprise,” resumed Mr. 
Pomeroy, “ and since it is not according to 
the will of Providence that I should accom- 


A MOMENTOUS DECISION. 85 

pany it myself, I have been prayerfully 
considering who should take my place.’’ 

The little mother’s face grew grave 
again, for she began to divine what was 
coming, but she forbore to speak. 

“ Nathan,” he went on, looking straight 
before him, “ cannot be spared from the 
counting-room, where he shall be needed 
more than ever in these troublous times, 
and Winthrop has not the proper strength 
of body, but,” and here a sharp pang of 
apprehension went to his listener’s heart, 
“ there are Bradford and Sewall — they 
are qualified in many ways, and they will 
suffer little by foregoing their school for 
a few months. Moreover, their knowledge 
of the fife and drum will be of service, 
and so I have this day offered them to 
the Governor, and he has been pleased to 
accept them with much warmth.” 

Poor Mrs. Pomeroy ! What could she 
do but protest and plead with trembling 
lips and streaming eyes ? 

The idea of her darling boys being 
exposed to all the hardships and perils 


86 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

of warfare was at first little short of ap- 
palling. Strong, high-spirited, manly lads 
though they were, they still seemed to her 
altogether too young to enter the battle of 
life, and yet their father would commit 
them to real fighting, where there would 
be risk of wounds, and disease, and a 
thousand other hazards. 

They talked far into the night, Mr. 
Pomeroy urging that the expedition 
against Louisbourg — that nest of in- 
famous privateers and stronghold of Pap- 
istry — being ordained of God, could not 
fail of glorious success, even though the 
New England forces were in the sight 
of men strangely inadequate, and that 
Bradford and Sewall being in the care of 
Providence would suffer no harm. 

“ Aye, beloved, ” Mr. Pomeroy went on, 
his voice rising with the inspiration of the 
idea ; “ and even though our boys should be 
called upon to give their lives to this enter- 
prise, what nobler death could we desire 
for them ? It would be a true sacrifice to 
the glory of God. ,, 


A MOMENTOUS DECISION. 


87 


In the end Mrs. Pomeroy came around 
to see the matter in this light also, al- 
though her mother’s heart was sorely 
wrung, and she felt the need of much 
waiting upon God ere she could reach the 
point of complete acquiescence in the 
sacrifice entailed upon her. 

And so, while Prince and Pickle slept 
on in profound unconsciousness of being 
the subject of their parents’ long vigil, the 
very thing in all the world they most 
eagerly desired was being determined upon 
at the cost of many a bitter pang. 


CHAPTER VII. 


THE STARTING OF THE EXPEDITION. 

"IMMEDIATELY after prayers the follow- 
ing morning (and the whole family 
noticed the special fervor as well as the 
unwonted prolongation of Mr. Pomeroy’s 
petitions) he said to the twins : — 

“ Bradford and Sewall, I wish to speak 
with you in private. Come with me ; ” and 
he led the way to his own room. 

They followed in considerable trepida- 
tion, for. having no inkling of what he 
was about to communicate, they naturally 
enough felt apprehensive lest they were to 
be disciplined for some fresh bit of mischief, 
although they could not conceive just what 
it might be. 

Their mother came with them, putting a 
soft hand upon the shoulder of each as 
they entered, and drawing them towards 
her, so that they stood on either side of 


THE STARTING OF THE EXPEDITION. 89 

her when she sank into a chair. Mr. Pom- 
eroy was in a strangely restless state for 
him. Instead of sitting down, he paced the 
room a couple of times in silence, while the 
boys watched him in wonder. The truth 
was that his heart was so divided betwixt 
parental love and patriotic and religious 
fervor that he scarce knew himself. 

Presently he came to a stop before the 
little group, and, giving the boys a search- 
ing glance that was almost fierce in its 
intensity, asked abruptly: — 

“ What know ye about this holy enter- 
prise for the taking of that stronghold of 
Antichrist, and den of sea-wolves, the for- 
tress of Louisbourg ? ” 

Very much surprised at the question, 
which was so different from what they had 
expected, the boys looked at one another 
and then at their mother in bewilderment. 

But as their father stood regarding them 
fixedly, and evidently bent upon an answer, 
Prince plucked up resolution to respond : — 
“ It is everybody’s talk, sir, and many 
seem to be going to join it.” 


90 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

“No doubt, no doubt/’ said Mr. Pome- 
roy. “ The Spirit of God is stirring in His 
people, and, despite the opposition of the 
evil-disposed and the unregenerate, He will 
not fail for zealous champions of His cause.” 
Here he paused for a moment, and then 
taking a step forward, laid a hand upon the 
shoulder of each boy, and, looking first into 
the face of Prince, and then that of Pickle, 
asked them in a tone of deep feeling : — 

“ Has it been borne in upon your minds 
that you would do well to take part in this 
enterprise, and so work for the glory of God 
according to your ability ? ” 

Now, at last comprehending what this 
conference meant, the two boys were even 
more taken by surprise than at first. 

Ever since the Louisbourg expedition 
began to be talked about it had enlisted 
their keenest interest. Of course, the re- 
ligious aspect of the project did not concern 
them, but the patriotic one did. 

They had been brought up to regard the 
French as the very essence of all that was 
hateful in humanity, and when the attack 


THE STAKTING OF THE EXPEDITION-. 91 

on Louisbourg was mooted, nobody in 
Massachusetts was more eager than they 
for its successful execution. 

Not only so, but they became endued 
with an intense desire to form part of the 
force. 

Yet they had the remarkable good sense 
— or rather Prince had, and he imposed it 
upon Pickle — to keep this desire to them- 
selves, except so far as it might come out in 
talk with their schoolmaster. 

They took it for granted that their 
parents would not hear of their going, and 
they therefore had kept their own counsel 
at home. 

Yet here was their father actually ask- 
ing them if they wished to join the expedi- 
tion, for that plainly enough was what his 
words meant. 

The way in which they each responded 
was very characteristic. 

Pickle, disengaging himself from his 
mother s embrace, clapped his hands joy- 
fully as he exclaimed : — 

“We have long been desiring to go, 


92 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

father, but we feared to say anything about 
it, lest you should be opposed to it.” 

But Prince, turning so as to gaze into 
his mother’s face, gave her a questioning 
look that wellnigh broke down the restraint 
she had so bravely imposed upon herself. 

It asked so plainly that there was no 
need of words : “ What do you think about 
it, mother?” and Mrs. Pomeroy was fain 
to hide her face upon his shoulder to con- 
ceal her emotion. 

They talked long together that morning, 
so that Mr. Pomeroy was late beyond pre- 
cedent at his counting-room, and the boys 
spoiled their record at school. 

This was of small consequence, however, 
since henceforth there would be little more 
school-going on their part, for they had 
much to do in getting ready. 

The first person they told was Master 
Hancock, and he seemed almost as much 
delighted as if it were some special honor 
conferred upon himself. 

“ Truly, but this is good news ! ” he ex- 
claimed, his countenance lit up with joy 


THE STARTING OF THE EXPEDITION. 93 

and pride. “What you have learned of 
drill and tactics in ray poor school will not 
come amiss to you, and you shall play your 
fife and drum, no doubt, to put terror into 
the hearts of those pestilent Frenchmen, 
and to inspire courage in our own people. 
Have I your permission to announce this 
to the whole school ? ” 

Of course this was just what the boys 
wanted, and so in quite a neat little 
speech Master Hancock told the news, ex- 
patiating upon the honor it was to have 
the school thus represented in the expedi- 
tion, and closing with the fervent wish that 
the Pomeroys might be able to render dis- 
tinguished service, and return unscathed. 

Now, with such wonderful energy did the 
New Englanders prosecute their prepara- 
tions under the inspiration of the fiery 
preaching of Parson Moody, and others of 
like kidney in whom the old Puritan fanat- 
icism was still rampant, that, despite many 
difficulties and set-backs of one kind and 
another, within seven weeks from the issu- 
ing of Governor Shirley’s proclamation for 


94 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

volunteers the preparations were all made, 
and the unique armament was afloat. 

Seeing how strong was the fortress to be 
taken, the attacking force certainly seemed, 
according to human standards, absurdly 
inadequate, and explicable only on the 
ground of an absolute faith in divine co- 
operation. 

Aside from the transports, which were 
simply fishing vessels pressed into the ser- 
vice, the New England fleet was made up as 
follows : For flagship, the “ Massachusetts,’' 
a brig just launched, and fitted up for 
twenty-four guns; the “Csesar” and the 
“ Shirley,’’ carrying twenty guns each ; one 
of the kind known as a “ snow,” carrying 
sixteen guns ; a privateer of twenty guns ; 
and some half-dozen sloops mounting from 
six to eight guns apiece. 

As was wisely enough remarked, one 
heavy French ship of war — and several 
of such were expected in the spring — 
would easily outmatch the whole colonial 
squadron. But the enthusiastic “ crusad- 
ers ” recked not of this. They felt assured of 


THE STARTING OF THE EXPEDITION. 95 

victory, no matter what might be the odds 
against them. 

One great deficiency was in the matter 
of cannon. There were only a few to be 
had, and these were of altogether too light 
calibre to be properly effective for the siege 
of a mighty fortress, the heaviest being no 
more than twenty-two pounders. 

Here again, however, the wonderful faith 
in themselves of the adventurers was strik- 
ingly illustrated. They confidently looked 
to the French for the supply of the needed 
artillery. 

Close to Louisbourg, but completely de- 
tached from it, stood the Grand or Royal 
Battery, known to be mounted with more 
than a score of heavy pieces. These it was 
calmly proposed to capture, and to turn 
against the town, which, as a shrewd critic 
sagely remarked, was very much “ like sell- 
ing the skin of the bear before catching 
him.” 

It was on the twenty-fourth of March, in 
the year 1745, when this remarkable ex- 
pedition, which was sarcastically described 


96 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

as having a lawyer for its promoter, a mer- 
chant for its general, and farmers, fisher- 
men, and mechanics for its soldiers, set sail 
from Nantasket Roads, escorted by the 
provincial cruisers, and followed by prayers 
and benedictions, not to mention enthu- 
siastic toasts drunk in bumpers of rum 
punch. 

William Pepperell, a merchant of Kit- 
tery, had been chosen by Governor Shirley 
to command the land forces, and the choice 
was probably the best that could have been 
made, for he joined to an unusual popu- 
larity as little military incompetency as any 
one else who could have been selected. 

The naval commander was Captain 
Edward Tyng, who had recently signal- 
ized himself by capturing a French priva- 
teer of much greater strength than his 
own vessel. He hoisted his flag upon the 
“ Massachusetts,” a fine new brig converted 
into a frigate of twenty-four guns for the 
occasion. 

From the morning when it was settled 
that Prince and Pickle should join the 


THE STARTING OF THE EXPEDITION. 97 

expedition this was the one absorbing 
interest of the Pomeroy household. 

The other children felt themselves to 
shine in the reflected glory of their brothers’ 
prominence, and wearied their companions 
with oft-repeated details of what was being 
done in the way of preparation, — the gay 
uniforms that were being got ready, the 
diligent practice upon fife and drum that 
was carried on, the bountifully stocked 
hampers that were to accompany the 
young warriors, and so on. They appar- 
ently could talk of nothing else. 

With the parents, however, it was very 
different. 

Mr. Pomeroy was at no time a man of 
many words. The more deeply he thought 
or felt upon any subject the less he could 
be got to say about it, and so his friends 
soon came to understand that his sons’ 
venture was not a welcome topic of con- 
versation with him. 

As for sweet Mrs. Pomeroy, her self-con- 
trol was a marvel to every one. Her eyes 
were blind to none of the perils of the 
7 


98 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

enterprise, even if her faith in its being 
divinely directed was as clear and strong 
as Parson Moody’s. 

She spent much time in her room, com- 
muning with God, and thereby was her 
strength sustained. 

She found it in some sense a comfort to 
talk with her friends freely on the subject, 
and every night when Prince and Pickle 
had gone to bed she would slip away to 
their room, and spend a little while with 
them ere they fell asleep. 

At the time of parting she was wonder- 
fully composed. Indeed so splendidly did 
she restrain herself that only those who 
knew her best understood how her heart 
bled. 

Pickle, carried away by the excitement 
of the occasion, seemed as jubilant as 
though he were going off on some de- 
lightful holiday jaunt ; but Prince showed 
deep feeling, all the more unwonted on his 
part. He did not even attempt to hide 
the tears that brimmed his eyes as he 
embraced his mother again and again. 


THE STARTING OF THE EXPEDITION. 99 

Mr. Pomeroy’s last words to his boys 
were very characteristic. Putting a hand 
upon the head of each, he said with 
solemn emphasis : — 

“ The Lord bless you, and keep you, 
my sons. Our prayer shall be, 6 Let God 
arise, let His enemies be scattered ; let 
them also that hate Him flee before 
Him.’ ” 

The fife and drum corps to which Prince 
and Pickle belonged had been assigned to 
the “ Mary and Martha,” a rather small and 
decidedly malodorous “ snow ” that had seen 
many years of service on the fishing banks. 

Pickle, who had cherished hopes of 
getting on board the “ Massachusetts,” or 
at least one of the armed sloops, felt 
keenly disappointed when he learned his 
fate. 

“ I ’m sure the General might have sent 
us to a better vessel than this vile-smelling 
thing,” he grumbled, sniffing contemp- 
tuously. “He knows what a good home 
we ’ve come from, and that we ’re not just 
common soldiers.” 


100 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURO. 


Prince laughed quietly as he replied : — 

“ If you call this hardship, Pickle, I won- 
der what you ’ll think of camping out 
before Louisbourg. I ’m very sure there ’ll 
be many a day when we ’ll wish ourselves 
back on board this vessel. You don’t know 
when we ’re well off.” 

“ If the wretched old hulk did n’t stink 
so it would not be so bad,” retorted Pickle, 
wrinkling up his face as though to shut out 
the objectionable odors, “ but,” and here 
he assumed a more cheerful expression of 
countenance, “ I suppose we ’ve got to 
make the best of it. I wonder how our 
companions like it.” 

There were nearly fourscore in all on 
board the transport, necessitating very close 
stowing, and the Pomeroy boys, who had 
anticipated finding much pleasure in the 
sea trip, soon realized that it could not be 
a comfortable one under any circumstances, 
and that, therefore, the shorter it might 
prove the better. 

The sun shone most promisingly, and 
the wind blew from the right quarter as 


THE STARTING OF THE EXPEDITION. 101 

the colonial fleet, in fairly good order, moved 
out of Nantasket Roads into the open sea. 

Everybody was in good spirits, although 
all knew that many would never again set 
foot on New England soil. But each one 
hoped that he might survive the perils and 
mischances of the enterprise to share in 
the triumphant home-coming, which was 
as confidently counted upon as though it 
had been revealed from on high. 


CHAPTER VIII. 


IN PERILS OF WATERS. 

FTER the first novelty of being on 



1 shipboard was over, Prince and 
Pickle set themselves to making the ac- 
quaintance of their fellow- voyagers. 

These were all a good deal older than 
they, but being for the most part drawn 
from the country districts, the boys soon 
found their disparity in years considerably 
compensated for by advantages in educa- 
tion and social culture. 

In the hurry and confusion of embarking, 
the members of the fife and drum corps 
that was to be, no real organization having 
yet been completed, were scattered through 
different vessels, only the Pomeroys being 
on board the “Mary and Martha.” 

This very fact gave them a sort of dis- 
tinction. They were not just ordinary 


IN PERILS OF WATERS. 103 

volunteers like the rest. They had a duty 
to perform that demanded special skill, and 
this, combined with the singularity of their 
mutual resemblance, and the knowledge of 
how liberally their father had contributed 
towards the expenses of the expedition, 
won for them the interest of their ship- 
mates at the outset. 

By the end of the day they knew nearly 
everybody on board, and had particularly 
won the regard of the captain, who thought 
them the finest pair of boys he had ever 
seen. 

The first day's sailing was pure enjoy- 
ment to them. They had never been on 
the ocean before, although they had made 
many an excursion over the waters of 
Boston Bay, and the vast expanse of rip- 
pling blue flecked by whitecaps through 
which the fleet surged its way seemed a 
glorious spectacle. 

“ This is just splendid ! ” exclaimed 
Pickle, as he stood in the bows, and felt 
the vessel rise and fall beneath him like 
a galloping horse. “ I believe I ’ll take to 


104 FIFE AND DKUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

the sea when this Louisbourg affair is all 
over. Father would let me have one of 
his ships when I learned how to navigate 
it, would n’t he ? ” 

“ I should think he would, Pickle,” re- 
sponded Prince. “ He ’s got to have a 
good captain for each of them, and when 
you Ve learned navigation he ought to be 
very glad to put you in command of the 
best vessel he owns.” 

Pickle’s eyes gleamed with pleasure, and 
a gratified smile lit up his face. 

“ I like to hear you speak that way, 
Prince,” he said, giving his brother’s arm 
an affectionate squeeze. “ I know I ’m 
rather a rash, reckless fellow now, but I ’m 
going to steady down in a little while, 
and then people will be able to depend 
upon me.” 

In view of their twinship it was remark- 
able how in his sober moods Pickle seemed 
to look up to Prince, as though he were 
really some years older, and how keenly he 
appreciated his brother’s good opinion. 

Auspicious as the weather had been 


IN PERILS OF WATERS. 105 

when the fleet sailed, an ominous change 
came on in the course of the afternoon. 
The sun was lost in a huge mass of sullen 
clouds that rapidly covered the face of the 
sky ; the air, which had been warm and 
pleasant, grew uncomfortably chill ; and the 
wind, at first so steady and moderate, set 
the vessels a-pitching and tossing in such 
a way as rapidly to bring all who were 
not seasoned sailors into the grip of that 
most unheroic of maladies, seasickness. 

Prince and Pickle, having had some ex- 
perience of salt water, did not succumb so 
soon as some of those who, having come 
from the countryside, were now getting 
their first taste of brine. 

Indeed they kept their feet so long that 
they actually began to flatter themselves 
that they were superior to the bufferings 
of old Neptune. 

“ Those poor fellows,” said Prince in a 
sympathetic tone, pointing to a miserable 
group of sufferers sprawling on the deck 
in different attitudes of abject misery. 

“ How wretched they seem ! I ’m glad we 


106 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

have been on the water so much that 
we ’re well used to it.” 

u Yes, indeed,” chorused Pickle, whose 
sense of the ludicrous overbore his sym- 
pathies for the moment. “ They don’t 
make a very pretty picture, do they ? If I 
felt like that I think I ’d want to go and 
hide myself somewhere.” 

It was not very long after this, however, 
when, the wind increasing in strength, 
the motion of the snow became so violent 
as to make Master Pickle feel very queer 
inside himself. 

“ Those horrid smells ! ” he exclaimed 
indignantly, turning up his nose. “ They ’re 
enough to make a pig sick. Why could n’t 
they ’ve put us on board a proper vessel ? ” 

But it was not simply the ancient and 
fish-like odor of the “ Mary and Martha,” 
bad as that was, which gave Pickle such 
disturbing internal qualms. Had the snow 
smelt as sweet as a haymow, they would 
still have intruded themselves, for in spite 
of his premature boasting, he was fast fall- 
ing under the spell of seasickness. 


IN PERILS OF WATERS. 107 

True to his word, when he realized what 
was the matter with him he made for his 
bunk, post haste, that he might there hide 
his discomfiture. 

But he could not stay there long. The 
furious pitching of the vessel, which banged 
him mercilessly against the sides of his 
bunk, the dense confined air of the cabin, 
and worst of all the horrible combination 
of odors that thickened the atmosphere, 
foul bilge water contending for supremacy 
with memories of stale fish, — these were 
altogether more than he could endure, and 
accordingly he crawled back to the deck, 
where, seeking out a protected nook under 
the lee of the mainmast, he huddled down 
in it, confessing himself the most wretched 
being alive. 

By nightfall the wind had risen into a 
fierce gale from the northeast, against 
which the fleet could do nothing, and all 
through the long hours of darkness, as one 
who was on board a transport has recorded, 
they “lay rolling in the seas, with sails 
furled, among prodigious waves.” 


108 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

Nor was this the worst of it. With the 
gale came great showers of rain that pres- 
ently turned into snow, driving everybody 
below deck save those who had to manage 
the vessels ; and these latter were so blinded 
and bewildered that they scarce knew what 
they were doing. 

Prince, although feeling pretty miser- 
able himself, managed to look after Pickle 
a little. 

When the snow-storm came on he helped 
him down into his bunk, and stayed be- 
side him, affording him the comfort of 
his company, since he could do nothing 
else. 

It was a night not soon to be forgotten. 
The snow rolled and pitched and tossed 
like a crazy thing, creaking and groaning 
in every rib and plank, while the masts 
strained in their sockets as though they 
must be torn out of them, or snap short 
off by the deck. 

Only the sailors, and a few hardy fisher- 
men who were among the volunteers, with- 
stood the seasickness that prostrated the 


IN PERILS OF WATERS. 109 

rest, and they showed scant sympathy for 
the sufferers. 

Pickle really felt as though he might be 
going to die. Having never been ill a day 
in his life before, the severity of his present 
symptoms filled him with fear. 

“ Oh, Prince ! ” he groaned, holding 
tightly his brother’s hand, “ what will 
become of us? I wish to heaven we’d 
never started. What do we care about 
Louisbourg? It never did us any harm, 
and here we are in danger of losing our 
lives ! What fools we ’ve been ! Oh, to 
be safe back at home again ! ” 

In spite of his own suffering, Prince 
could not forbear smiling at Pickle’s ex- 
clamations, — they were so different from 
the tone of his talk until the sea had laid 
hold of him thus roughly. 

“ Tut, Pickle ! ” he said, patting his hand 
soothingly. “ You ’ll feel very differently 
soon. This seasickness does not last long. 
By to-morrow morning you’ll be all right, 
and the storm will be over then, see if it 
is n’t.” 


110 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

But when at last the eagerly awaited 
morning came, it brought no improvement 
in the weather, and Prince, creeping care- 
fully up on deck, was alarmed to find the 
“ Mary and Martha ” alone upon that wild 
waste of waters. 

The storm had scattered the fleet like so 
much chaff, and no other vessel was in 
sight. 

“ Where are they all ? ” he asked, ad- 
dressing the captain, who stood at the 
tiller, where indeed he had been through 
the night, bending all his skill and strength 
to the task of keeping his endangered ves- 
sel afloat. 

“The Lord knoweth,” he responded 
solemnly, shaking his head as though to 
imply that his own inability to account for 
them augured ill for their safety. 

“ But they have not been wrecked, have 
they ? ” cried Prince, believing such a storm 
as was prevailing capable of doing any 
amount of destruction. 

Captain Flagg again shook his head 
solemnly. He trusted that no such terrible 


IN PERILS OF WATERS. Ill 

calamity had befallen the rest of the fleet, 
yet, if it indeed were the case, he could not 
fail to take a melancholy satisfaction in his 
vessel being the sole survivor. 

But although the “ Mary and Martha ” 
had thus far gallantly withstood the storm 
without loss of tackle or springing of leak, it 
was still far too soon to rejoice over safe 
deliverance. 

In wrestling with the gale, the snow had 
been forced farther westward than was com- 
forting to her navigator, and the return 
of daylight revealed on their left the cruel 
coast-line of Maine with its jagged cliffs, 
at whose feet the billows broke ceaselessly. 

Prince saw the danger at once. The 
vessel must somehow beat out to seaward, 
or inevitably be dashed upon a lee shore 
with small chance of a single one of her 
company surviving the catastrophe. 

“ Is there any haven into which we can 
run ? ” he asked anxiously of the captain, 
while with his own eyes he strove to discern 
some break in that appalling front of sombre 
rocks and snowy foam. 


112 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

Captain Flagg gave his grizzled head a 
mournful negative shake. He was at no time 
a cheerful man. Gloom sat on his rugged 
countenance when all around made merry, 
and now that he and his vessel were in 
imminent peril, he was gloomier than ever. 

“ There be no haven about here,” he 
replied ; “ nothing but rocks and ledges, 
and reefs that are just hungry for ships, 
and we ’re going to have a hard time get- 
ting away from them if the wind don’t 
soon change.” 

Filled with new apprehensions, Prince 
went down to see how Pickle was getting on. 
He found the poor boy still in the throes 
of sickness, and utterly unable to stand upon 
his feet. 

“ Where are we, Prince ? ” he asked 
languidly, his wan face and spiritless eyes 
making him seem an altogether different 
person from his old lively self. “ Will we 
quickly reach land ? I am so sick I ’m 
sure I will die if we do not soon get out 
of this horrid vessel.” 

“We’re a good way yet from where 


IN PERILS OF WATERS. 113 

we ’re to land, Pickle/’ responded Prince, as 
cheerfully as though he knew nothing of 
the new peril that threatened them. “ Do 
you want something to eat ? ” 

“ To eat ! ” cried Pickle, with a grimace 
of disgust at the very idea of such a thing. 
“ To eat ! I don’t want to eat anything, 
and I never will again.” 

Prince smiled at his rash declaration. 
He had no appetite himself, but he did not 
doubt he would be eager enough for food 
when once he got his sea-legs. 

“Well, you stay there until you feel 
better,” he said, “ and before the day ’s over 
you ’ll be glad enough to munch a biscuit, 
see if you’re not. I ’m going back on deck 
to see how we ’re getting on.” 

There was no improvement in the pros- 
pect when Prince returned to the deck. 
Indeed, if anything the situation had grown 
more alarming. 

The “ Mary and Martha r ’ was under triple- 
reefed sails, and these threatened to tear 
away from their grummets at any moment. 
The gale showed no sign of slackening, and 
8 


114 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

the sea ran higher than ever. Nothing 
could be seen, save the wind-whipped waves 
on the right and the implacable rocks on 
the left. The snow was as solitary as 
though she were the only vessel afloat on 
the Atlantic. 

Still retaining his post at the tiller, 
which he had not left save for a brief spell 
or two since the storm began, Captain 
Joshua Flagg, with stern-set features and 
eyes of profound sadness, brought all his 
knowledge of seamanship to bear upon the 
problem he now had to solve, and upon 
whose solution depended the lives of all on 
board the “ Mary and Martha.” 


CHAPTER IX. 


SAFELY INTO PORT. 

I T was Captain Flagg’s plan to make for 
the Bay of Fundy, where the “ Mary 
and Martha ” might find a safe haven until 
the gale passed. 

He would have preferred standing out to 
sea, for he had perfect faith in the ability 
of his vessel and himself to cope with the 
assaults of the elements, but his heart was 
touched by the sufferings of his passengers, 
and, moreover, the frequent snow-squalls 
that blotted out everything a hundred yards 
from the vessel, were, for aught he could 
tell, the precursors of a regular snow-storm 
that might render his clumsy craft alto- 
gether unmanageable. 

So he fought his way along the coast, 
again and again escaping the ever-ready 
rocks as by a miracle, until at last he 


116 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURGL 

gained the mouth of the Bay, and, by a 
daring slant in the very teeth of the gale, 
succeeded in making port at the southern- 
most end of the Province of Acadia, where 
the prosperous town of Yarmouth now 
stands. 

The change from the incessant violence 
of the storm-tossed ocean to the calm of 
the peaceful harbor was indescribably grate- 
ful to all on board the transport. Even the 
“ old salts ” who composed the crew were 
glad of release from the tremendous strain 
they had been bearing. 

As for the militiamen, a few hours of 
quiet made new beings of them. They 
came out of the cabins like bees out of a 
hive, and disposed themselves on deck, 
eagerly sniffing the keen, pure air that 
was so welcome after the fetid atmosphere 
they had been breathing. 

Pickle was one of the first to show up, 
and his joyful exclamation as he gazed 
about him, and saw the pleasant land 
almost encircling the vessel, was : — 

u Hurrah ! we Ve got there all right 


SAFELY INTO PORT. 


117 


after all ! ” Then realizing on a second 
glance that the place hardly answered to 
the description of Louisbourg, a puzzled 
expression came over his face, and he con- 
tinued : “ But this does n’t look like Louis- 
bourg. Where are the French, and the 
great fortress that we were told so much 
about ? ” 

Prince laughed heartily. He had fully 
expected his brother to make just such a 
mistake. 

“ We’re a long way from Louisbourg 
yet, Pickle,” he answered. “ This is only 
the south end of Acadia, and Captain Flagg 
has put in here for shelter. As soon as 
the wind changes we ’ll be starting again.” 

“ Oh, dear ! ” groaned Pickle, putting his 
hand to his stomach as if the very idea of 
another bout with Neptune made him sick, 
“ and I suppose we ’ll have the same dread- 
ful time over again ! ” 

“ I hope not,” responded Prince, cheer- 
fully. “ There ought to be some fine 
w r eather after the storm, and, anyway, 
you won’t be bothered much more by sea- 


118 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

sickness; you’ll feel all right when we 
start out again.” 

They remained a couple of days in port, 
waiting for the “ dirty weather ” to wear 
itself out, and were rewarded by an un- 
mistakable clear-up that put everybody 
in good spirits, even old Captain Flagg’s 
habitually sombre countenance brightening 
perceptibly. 

Favored with a warm west wind that 
propelled her so steadily as to banish all 
thought of seasickness, the “Mary and 
Martha ” slipped along the Acadian coast, 
those on board her keeping a sharp look- 
out for the other transports, but scanning 
the blue and white waves in vain. 

Canseau harbor had been agreed upon 
as the rendezvous, and in due time the 
snow reached there, being the very last of 
the whole fleet to arrive, and by her be- 
lated appearance affording immense relief 
to the naval commander, who was already 
fearing that she would never be seen again. 

It had not taken long for Canseau to 
again change ownership. The scanty gar- 


SAFELY INTO PORT. 


119 


rison left by Duvivier made no pretence 
at resistance when they saw the colonial 
war vessels and transports crowding into 
the pretty harbor. They surrendered forth- 
with, and at the first opportunity were 
shipped off to Boston, there to await the 
issue of the enterprise. 

The Pomeroys were hugely delighted at 
landing. Pleasant as the trip along the 
Acadian coast had been, they were both 
heartily sick of the strong-smelling snow, 
and glad to exchange her cramped accom- 
modations for the freedom of the camp. 

“ Ah, ha ! this is what suits me ! ” Pickle 
exclaimed, when they had got their belong- 
ings arranged to their satisfaction in the 
tent, which they shared with four others 
of the corps. “ We ’re soldiers in earnest 
now. No more nasty seasickness for us.” 

“ Perhaps you T1 not find the tent so 
comfortable as you imagine,” said Prince, 
smiling at his brother’s enthusiasm. 
“ We ’ve got to make our beds on the hard 
ground as best we can, you know.” 

“ Oh ! that ’s all right,” responded Pickle. 


120 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

“ We can make them soft enough with 
hay or pine boughs.” 

It was on Friday, the fifth of April, when 
the Pomeroys landed, and ere Sunday came 
they had settled down to camp life as 
naturally as if they had experienced it 
before. 

True to his words, Pickle foraged around 
until he lighted upon a small barn filled 
with hay, from which he and his tent- 
mates helped themselves freely, and thus 
made rude mattresses, that greatly added 
to their comfort when sleeping. 

As soon as the camp was arranged, the • 
drilling began. A veteran soldier would 
have found much to laugh at in the spec- 
tacle of several thousand homespun vol- 
unteers doing their best to master the 
intricacies of “ right wheel,” “ attention,” 
and “ stand at ease.” 

They were so ludicrously awkward, and 
yet so deeply in earnest ! They evidently 
saw nothing funny about it. It was all 
downright hard work, which made them 
look as solemn as judges on the bench. 


SAFELY INTO PORT. 


121 


Prince and Pickle had to do as much as 
any one, if not indeed somewhat more than 
many, because in addition to learning the 
martial evolutions they had to practise 
diligently upon their instruments. 

On the first Sunday there was a great 
concourse to hear Parson Moody, who, to 
adopt Shakespeare’s words, had not shown 
the steep and thorny way to others while 
he himself the primrose path of dalliance 
trod, but, gladly giving up all the comforts 
of his own home-life, although he tad 
already reached the allotted age of man, 
had packed his big Bible in the midst of a 
small bundle of clothes, and taken his place 
in the expedition. 

His very apt text was, “ Thy people shall 
be willing in the day of Thy power,” and 
it was generally admitted that he quite 
excelled himself in both the length and 
the quality of his discourse. 

Prince and Pickle, like dutiful boys, at- 
tended the service, and at first gave good 
heed to the preacher’s thunderous exposi- 
tion ; for of the old man it is recorded that 


122 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

he had lungs of brass, and nerves of ham- 
mered iron. 

But as he went on, and on, booming 
away past ninthly, tenthly, eleventhly, 
giving no sign of ever coming to lastly, 
Pickle grew weary, and his eyes turned 
longingly towards the adjacent pasture in 
which several squads were busy drilling, 
probably on the principle that the better 
the day, the better the deed. 

Presently, after fidgeting about for some 
time, he could stand it no longer, and he 
whispered to Prince : — 

“ We ’ve had enough of this. He’s going 
to preach all day. Let us slip out to the 
drill-ground.” 

Prince shook his head decidedly. He had 
too much respect for the ordinances of the 
church to do what Pickle proposed, and 
the latter, with a grunt of dissatisfaction, 
settled down again. 

But not for long. After enduring two 
more heads of the indefatigable parson’s 
strenuous deliverance, he plucked Prince’s 
arm, and, whispering to him, “ Come along ! 


SAFELY INTO PORT. 


123 


I can’t stand any more of this,” he crept 
away, bending low, so as to avoid the 
preacher’s observation if possible. 

Prince stayed where he was, and Pickle, 
owing to Mr. Moody’s attention being fixed 
elsewhere, got to the outskirts of the con- 
gregation ere he was noticed. 

Then there came a sudden stop in the 
sounding harangue, and every eye was 
turned in the direction indicated by the 
parson’s outstretched forefinger, as, rising 
upon tiptoe, he levelled it at Pickle, and 
shouted : — 

“ Come back, you graceless young sinner ! 
Come back here, and listen to that which is 
profitable for thy soul, instead of sneaking 
off to join thyself to those godless fellows 
drilling over yonder.” 

In spite of the distance separating them, 
Parson Moody’s irate recall reached Pickle 
like a trumpet-blast, and he stopped at once, 
his crimson cheeks betraying his confusion. 

His first impulse was to humbly return 
to his place. Then, as the full sense of the 
old man’s harsh words came to him, his 


124 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

own anger rose at being thus publicly called 
such hard names, and, straightening up, he 
looked back defiantly at the minister, as he 
responded : — 

“ I have listened to you long enough al- 
ready, sir, and I am tired of it, so I am 
going to the drill-ground.” 

Never had this tyrant of the pulpit been 
so bearded before. In his own parish he 
was a sort of pope, and his fiery appeals in 
support of the expedition had given him an 
importance really beyond his merits. He 
would fain have been the spiritual dictator 
of the enterprise, if Pepperell would only 
permit it. 

A thrill of amazement, not un mixed with 
admiration, ran through the congregation. 
They, too, were weary of the loud-sounding, 
long-continued sermon, and only lacked 
courage to do as Pickle had done. 

Parson Moody was fairly aghast. He 
had not looked for anything save instant 
submission. 

“What imp of Satan are you?” he 
shouted, losing all thought of his sermon 


SAFELY INTO PORT. 


125 


in the fierceness of his wrath, “ that thou 
darest thus to speak to a minister of God ? 
Truly, if I could but lay hold upon thee, I 
would chastise thee as thou deservest. ,, 

“ But you cannot lay hold upon me, and 
I bid you good-day/’ retorted Pickle, his 
audacious spirit now thoroughly roused, 
and, turning on his heel, he hastened off, 
leaving the preacher to finish his discourse 
as best he could without him. 

Prince felt dreadfully ashamed of his 
brother. He was naturally respectful to 
his seniors and superiors, and so daring a 
defiance of authority seemed to him very 
dreadful. 

But throughout the camp generally 
Pickle’s action was secretly if not openly 
approved, for they all thought Parson 
Moody inclined to take too much upon him- 
self, and to treat them as children bound to 
unquestioning obedience, rather than as 
men having minds of their own. 

Of course the parson took the first op- 
portunity of seeking out Pickle, and admon- 
ishing him sternly for his misconduct. 


126 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

Following Prince’s counsel, Pickle heard 
him in silence, and the good old man, be- 
lieving him to be repentant, let the matter 
drop. 

Each day the affairs of the expedition 
got into better shape, and, as soon as they 
could be spared, some of the armed vessels 
were sent to cruise off Louisbourg. 

When Pickle heard that they were to be 
detailed for this duty, he became possessed 
with the idea of going on board one of 
them. 

“ Let us ask Captain Tyng if we cannot 
go,” he said to Prince. “It will be ever 
so much more interesting than this ever- 
lasting drill,” for he had already grown 
weary of the daily routine. 

“ I ’m afraid it won’t be any use,” replied 
Prince with a dubious shake of his head, 
“ and anyway, I thought you had had 
enough of the sea, and wanted to stay 
on land.” 

“ Oh, as to that,” responded Pickle, with 
as light a laugh as if he had never known 
the miseries of seasickness, “ I ’m not going 


, SAFELY INTO PORT. 


127 


to be bothered in that way again, and it ’s 
worth seeing, if they won’t let us on board ; 
I ’m going to try, at all events.” 

“ Very well, then, I’ll go with you,” said 
Prince, entering into the humor of the 
thing; and so off they went in search of 
the commander of the fleet. 

They found him on board his own ves- 
sel, the frigate “ Massachusetts,” and Pickle 
promptly preferred his request somewhat 
after this fashion : — 

“ Please, Sir Captain, may my brother 
and I go with one of the vessels that are 
being sent to cruise off Louisbourg?” 

Captain Tyng fortunately was in a very 
good humor at the moment, and, being 
rather tickled by the question, and favor- 
ably impressed by the appearance of the 
twins, he regarded them with a smile of 
kindly amusement as he asked : — 

u And who may ‘ my brother and me 7 
be ? I don’t remember having seen you 
before.” 

Pickle made quite a handsome bow. 

“ Please, Sir Captain, we are Prince and 


128 FIFE AKD DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

Pickle, — I mean, Bradford and Sewall 
Pomeroy, — and we are in the fife and 
drum corps.” 

“ Oh, ho ! ” laughed the commander, “ so 
you are the Pomeroy twins — the sons of 
worthy Master Preserved Pomeroy who 
gave so fine a subscription to the expenses 
of the expedition. I might have known it 
at first glance, for you are as like as two 
peas. Which one of you was it, may I 
ask, that stood up so bravely against Par- 
son Moody ? But, wait a moment, let me 
see if I cannot guess that myself. I think it 
must have been you,” and he laid his hand 
upon Pickle’s shoulder. 

Pickle blushed, and hung his head, where- 
upon Captain Tyng gave a pleased laugh, 
exclaiming : — 

“ Ah ! I thought so ; you ’ve got more of 
the Old Nick in you than your brother, 
unless I ’m much mistaken. And so,” he 
continued, “ you ’d like to go with one of 
the cruisers. Well, I dare say it can be 
arranged. Come to me this afternoon, and 
I’ll let you know how it will be ” 


SAFELY INTO PORT. 


129 


“ Oh, thank you, sir,” chorussed the 
twins gratefully, for they knew it was as 
good as settled, and they went ashore 
again in high glee. 


9 


CHAPTER X. 


ACTIVE SERVICE AFLOAT. 

I N the afternoon the Pomeroys returned 
to the “ Massachusetts/’ and to their 
huge delight were informed by Commander 
Tyng that he had arranged for them to go 
on board the “ Boston Packet/’ a smart- 
sailing sloop of sixteen guns. 

“ It may be only a little picnic for you, 
my boys/’ he said pleasantly, “ or you may 
have some sharp fighting to do, and per- 
haps help in making up a prize crew. I 
cannot say. But whether it turn out fun 
or fighting, I ’m much mistaken if you ’re 
not quite ready for either.” 

“ That we are, sir,” responded the twins 
in one breath. 

“ And we are very much obliged to you, 
sir,” added Prince. 

“ Yes, indeed,” cried Pickle ; and so the 
business was settled. 


ACTIVE SERVICE AFLOAT. 


131 


Bundling up their clothes, and not for- 
getting the fife and drum, they betook 
themselves without loss of time to the 
sloop, where they were well received by her 
captain, who seemed quite glad to have 
them added to his company. 

The “ Boston Packet ” had done good 
service as a privateer, and was as well 
equipped for her work as any vessel in the 
colonial fleet, save the flag-ship. 

The boys examined her with great 
interest. 

The guns and swivels, of which there 
were eight each, the cannon-balls in neat 
piles beside them, the stacks of muskets, 
boarding-pikes, and cutlasses, and all the 
other munitions of war, delighted them. 

“ I just hope we ’ll have a good fight 
with a French ship,” exclaimed Pickle, who 
had listened with breathless, palpitating 
attention to many an exciting story of 
privateering adventure told by Boston 
sailors. “ Would n’t I like to have a hand 
in capturing her ? ” 

“ But suppose she captured us instead ? ” 


132 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

suggested Prince, who was far more ready 
to consider both sides of a question than 
his impetuous brother. “ You know the 
French ships are a great deal bigger than 
ours, and carry heavier guns and more 
men, so that if we encountered one we 
might get the worst of it.” 

“ No, sir,” shouted Pickle, bringing his 
right hand down upon the breech of a gun 
with a sounding slap, u they could n’t do 
it, even though they were stronger than 
we. One Englishman is good for three 
Frenchmen at any time and anywhere.” 

Prince laughed in his quiet, amiable way. 
He enjoyed Pickle’s explosive vigor. It 
was so different from his own more re- 
strained ways. 

“ We’ll see, we ’ll see,” he answered with 
a sage nod of his curly head. “ We ’re 
pretty sure to find some French vessels 
before long, they all say.” 

At daybreak the following morning, the 
“ Boston Packet,” in company with two 
other armed sloops, the “ Tartar,” and 
the “ Caesar,” set sail from Canseau harbor. 


ACTIVE SERVICE AFLOAT. 


133 


It was a short voyage to the cruising 
ground oft* Louisbourg, and every eye on 
board the sloops kept a sharp lookout for 
strange sails. 

The fine bright day and smart breeze 
from the west put everybody in good spirits, 
and many and eager were the conjectures, 
not to mention the wagers, as to which ves- 
sel should be the first to make a capture. 

Over the crisping waves the “ Boston 
Packet ” bowled merrily, and the Pomeroys, 
standing together in the bow, felt as happy 
as larks. 

“ This is something like a ship ! ” cried 
Pickle joyously, — “ no horrid smells, every- 
thing as neat as mother’s best parlor, and 
we’re going along twice as fast as that 
wretched old * Mary and Martha ’ ever 
could.” 

“ Right you are, Pickle,” responded 
Prince, his fine face lit up with exultation. 
“ I never enjoyed anything more than this. 
It is simply splendid.” 

The colonial vessels soon separated, so 
that they might cruise over as large an area 


134 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

as possible, and the “ Boston Packet ” was 
presently alone. 

Early in the afternoon, the lookout 
at the crosstrees thrilled those on deck by 
the eagerly awaited shout of “ Sail-ho ! ” 

“ Where away ? ” asked the captain. 

“ On the weather bow,” was the response, 
and at once the sloop’s course was altered 
accordingly. 

Then began an exciting chase that 
threatened to last until darkness should put 
an end to it. The French vessel, which, 
so far as could be made out, was a sloop 
about the same size as the cruiser, showed 
unexpected capacity for speed. 

Not being able to continue on to Louis- 
bourg, as that course would have carried 
her right into the hands of the enemy, she 
went off on a long tack northward, evi- 
dently purposing to find refuge in the Gulf 
of St. Lawrence. 

Crowding on all the canvas she could 
carry, and using every possible device to 
enhance her speed, the “Boston Packet ” 
tore through the water with a big bone in 


ACTIVE SERVICE AFLOAT. 135 

her mouth for an hour or more without 
materially lessening the distance between 
herself and the object of her chase. 

“ We don’t seem to be gaining much, 
Pickle, do we?” said Prince, as with his 
eye he measured the space of whitecapped 
sea that divided the two vessels. “ At this 
rate it will be dark before we come up to 
her, and she ’ll be sure to get away from 
us in the night.” 

“ Oh, we ’ll catch her soon. Just see 
how we ’re creeping up on her,” responded 
Pickle, whose eagerness caused him to ex- 
aggerate the actual gain. “ She ’ll be 
within range of our bow chaser in a little 
while, and then we ’ll knock her mast down 
with it.” 

The excitement on board the cruiser was 
intense. Some of the men were praying 
earnestly for the French vessel to be de- 
livered into their hands, and others were 
cursing their own vessel for not being faster, 
while all saw to it that their muskets and 
cutlasses were ready for immediate action. 

The Pomeroys had been provided with a 


136 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

cutlass and a pistol apiece, through the 
kindness of Commander Tyng, and were no 
less proud of their weapons than they were 
anxious to have a chance of trying them 
upon the enemy. 

By the middle of the afternoon the “ Bos- 
ton Packet ” had got within a mile of the 
French sloop, and the hopes of the New 
Englanders rose high. 

Another hour, at the most, ought to bring 
the two vessels together, and then the fun 
would begin ; that is, if the Frenchmen did 
not tamely submit to capture, but showed 
fight, as many on board the cruiser quite 
hoped they would, so as to have a good 
excuse for cracking their heads. 

Little by little the distance lessened, and 
when it had been reduced to only half a 
mile, the swivel gun at the bow was care- 
fully trained upon the chase, and a round 
shot sent after her. 

It ricochetted harmlessly over the waves 
on her port side, and the captain swore at 
the gunner for his lack of skill. 

“Try it yourself, then,” growled the 


ACTIVE SERVICE AFLOAT. 137 

gunner sulkily, backing away from the 
gun. 

“ Very well, I will then,” responded the 
captain, and sighting the cannon carefully, 
he waited until the sloop was poised upon 
a wave-top ere pulling the lanyard. 

Hardly had the report rung out and the 
smoke cleared away than Pickle gave a 
cry of delight that was immediately echoed 
by the rdst of the crew. 

Whether it was a bit of good luck, or a 
real exhibition of skill, mattered little so 
far as the result was concerned, for the ball 
struck the mast of the French sloop just a 
little below the crosstrees, and broke it off, 
bringing the big sail helplessly down to the 
deck in flapping folds, and rendering 
further flight out of the question. 

Cheering tumultuously, the New Eng- 
landers dashed on, the man at the wheel 
being so carried away by the excitement of 
the moment that he was steering the 
cruiser right into the sloop, and there 
would infallibly have been a disastrous col- 
lision had not the captain, seeing the dan- 


138 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

ger, rushed to the stern, and, giving the 
steersman a cuff that sent him sprawling, 
seized the wheel just in time to swing the 
vessel around, and bring her alongside, in- 
stead of bow on to the disabled craft. 

Among the first to leap upon the French 
ship’s deck were Prince and Pickle. 

Waving their cutlasses they shouted: — 

“ Surrender, or we ’ll cut you to pieces ! ” 
and they certainly looked sufficiently in 
earnest to make their threat well worth 
heeding. 

But alas for their hopes of a lively 
scrimmage in which sundry French pates 
should be broken while they themselves 
were of course to come off scatheless ! — the 
shrewd “ Mounseers ” surrendered without 
a blow, although in numbers they were not 
so very much inferior to their captors. 

But they had no cannon, and only a 
scant supply of muskets and cutlasses, so 
that they were hardly to be blamed for 
their prompt submission. 

The sloop was found to be loaded with 
supplies of food and munitions of war for 








ACTIVE SERVICE AFLOAT. 139 

Louisbourg sent from Quebec, and the 
colonials, therefore, had good reason to 
congratulate themselves warmly, since her 
entire cargo would prove an exceedingly 
valuable addition to their own somewhat 
scant resources. 

When the captain of the “ Boston 
Packet ” was making up a crew to take 
charge of his prize, and sail her to Canseau, 
the Pomeroys eagerly volunteered, and he 
made no objection to their going. 

“I can spare you two about as well as 
anybody on board,” he said, with a smile 
that implied they were not of much con- 
sequence in his eyes, “ and I may need all 
of my able-bodied men badly, before the 
cruise is over, for there are sure to be more 
Frenchmen to be picked up.” 

The twins were not blind to his opinion 
of them, and they both resented it, but 
only a heightened color showed their feel- 
ing, and, having thanked him for acceding 
to their request, they went off to get ready 
to change vessels. 

The prize crew was composed of six be* 


140 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

sides themselves, four being experienced 
sailors, and the other two landsmen who 
had got their sea-legs by this time. 

The mast and rigging having been tem- 
porarily repaired, so as to enable the sails 
to be again hoisted, the sloop which bore the 
rather inappropriate name of “ La Gloire ” 
parted company with the “ Boston Packet,” 
steering a straight course for Canseau, 
while the latter continued on her cruise. 

Prince and Pickle were far from being 
favorably impressed by the appearance of 
the Frenchmen. 

“ They look like a lot of pirates, don’t 
they ? ’ Pickle remarked in as low a tone, 
as if he feared being overheard and under- 
stood. “ 1 ’m glad we ’ve got our pistols 
and cutlasses, and that the others all have 
muskets ” 

“I expect it is only because they are 
foreigners that they seem so evil-look- 
ing,” said Prince, who was not one to be 
carried away by first impressions, and 
who, after studying the faces of the pris- 
oners, was beginning to form a better 


ACTIVE SERVICE AFLOAT. 141 

opinion of them. “ We must seem just as 
strange to them, and doubtless they take 
us to be the greatest rascals in the world.” 

“ Do you say so, Prince ? ” Pickle cried, 
his face flushing with indignation, and his 
fists clenching unconsciously. “ Why, what 
right have they to think that? We’ve 
never done anything so bad as they have.” 

“That all depends upon how you look at 
it,” responded Prince smilingly. “ I don’t 
think our ships have ever lost a chance of 
capturing one of theirs, and we ’ve done 
them all the harm we could in lots of 
ways.” 

Here their talk was interrupted by an 
order from Seth Perkins, who had been 
placed in command of the sloop, to lay hold 
of the main-sheet, and thenceforth they 
were kept pretty busy assisting in working 
the vessel. 

When night drew near Captain Perkins 
decided that it would be best to shut the 
French sailors, who numbered fifteen, up in 
the forecastle, while he and his men took 
possession of the cabin. He accordingly 


142 FIFE AND DEUM AT LOUISBOUEG. 


drove them down below, and placed the 
two landsmen on guard over them with in- 
structions to shoot the first one that at- 
tempted to get up on deck. 

The rest of his crew he divided into two 
watches, which should take turn in sailing 
the sloop. 

Prince was put on the first watch and 
Pickle on the second. They would have 
preferred being together, but thought it 
better to say nothing and to do just as they 
were bidden. 

By nightfall Captain Perkins had settled 
everything to his satisfaction, and the 
captured sloop glided smoothly towards 
Canseau, the wavelets lapping her bow with 
a soft persistence as soothing as a lullaby. 

“We ought to make port by daybreak,” 
said the captain to Prince, who was stand- 
ing beside him, keenly enjoying the placid 
beauty of the night and the gentle motion 
of the vessel. “ The folks will be main 
glad to see us with so fine a prize, I reckon. 
I ’m wondering if the other cruisers will do 
as well.” 


ACTIVE SERVICE AFLOAT. 143 

“I hope they won’t,” answered Prince 
frankly, “ for we would n’t have so much to 
boast of then.” 

Captain Perkins chuckled, and clapped 
him on the back. 

, u Ye’re just right, my boy,” he said; 
“ we don’t want to divide the glory when 
there ’s only enough to go around comfort- 
ably, do we?” 

At midnight came the change of watch, 
Eli Thayer relieving Captain Perkins, and 
Pickle going on duty instead of Prince. 

“ Be sure and keep your eyes open,” said 
Prince, as he went below, to his brother, 
who was yawning fearfully. 

Pickle at first felt as if he would have 
given anything to finish out his sleep, but 
the cool night air soon freshened him up, 
and he was as alert as anybody. 

Then, having little to do save keep the 
sails full, the watch gathered at the stern, 
and chatted together. 

After listening to their talk for some 
time, Pickle went forward, and had been 
in the bow about a quarter of an hour, en- 


144 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

joying the smooth, steady motion of the 
vessel, when a slight noise from the direc- 
tion of the forecastle attracted his attention. 

Creeping quietly back, he was startled to 
see the hatch silently slid off, and the head 
and shoulders of one of the French sailors 
show up. 

He instantly understood the situation. 
In some way the prisoners had got the 
hatch unfastened, and were now about to 
make an attempt to recover possession of 
the vessel ! 


CHAPTER XI. 


PURSUED AND PURSUING. 

R ECKING nothing of the consequences, 
Pickle shouted at the top of his 
voice : — 

“ Help ! help ! they ’re getting out ! ” 
and threw himself upon the Erenchman. 

The latter was a powerful man, — the 
biggest in fact in their company, — and 
Pickle was no match for him whatever. 

But the impetuosity of the boy’s attack 
gave him an advantage at the start, and 
he forced the burly “ Mounseer ” back 
against the hatchway, thus not only check- 
ing his advance, but effectually blocking 
those behind him. 

The next moment, however, he was 
grasped by a pair of sinewy arms, and flung 
to one side as though he were a child, his 
forehead, as he fell, coming in contact with 

IO 


146 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

the end of a belaying-pin so violently as to 
render him insensible. 

But the brief delay gained by his prompt 
and courageous action saved the vessel 
from recapture, for all the other members 
of the watch, save the man at the wheel, 
instantly rushed forward, and after a sharp, 
severe struggle the prisoners were driven 
back into the forecastle, and the hatch 
secured beyond any possibility of being 
again unfastened from below. 

Not until this had been accomplished 
was Pickle thought of, and when they 
found him lying at the foot of the mast, 
senseless and bleeding, they were so alarmed 
that they aroused both Prince and the 
captain, who had slept soundly through 
all the disturbance. 

The poor boy had suffered a nasty blow, 
but happily Captain Perkins possessed some 
skill in rude surgery, and in a few mo- 
ments brought him back to consciousness, 
and bound up his wound in the proper 
manner. 

“ Did they get out ? ” was Pickle’s first 


PURSUED AND PURSUING. 147 

question on recovering his senses. “ I did 
my best to stop them, but that big French- 
man was too strong for me.” 

“ No, my brave boy, thanks to you, they 
did not get out,” replied the captain, pat- 
ting him affectionately. “You were just 
in time. In another moment they ’d have 
swarmed upon deck, and perhaps pitched 
us all overboard.” 

“ I ’m so glad ! ” exclaimed Pickle, with 
a huge sigh of relief ; and then putting his 
hand to his head, he groaned : “ Oh, how 
my head pains me ! How did I hurt it 
so?” 

“ You struck against a belay ing-pin 
when the Frenchman threw you down,” 
Prince answered him. “ But you ’ll be 
all right soon. Lie down now, and be 
comfortable ; I ’ll take the watch in your 
place.” 

Pickle was presently sleeping easily, 
and so Prince went on deck for the re- 
mainder of the night. 

By daybreak the sloop stood off Louis- 
bourg, and, the breeze freshening with the 


148 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

morn, was making good speed towards 
Canseau, when out from the French strong- 
hold came a larger vessel, canvased from 
peak to deck, that at the first glance was 
recognized as a French frigate. 

Immediately upon taking possession of 
the sloop the colonials had hoisted the 
British ensign at the masthead, and this 
being sighted on board the frigate, the 
latter of course at once began pursuit. 

Here now was a most unexpected and 
unwelcome reversal of the situation. The 
chasers of yesterday had become the chased 
of to-day, and they did not like it a bit, 
particularly as in the crippled condition of 
their vessel they could not get out of her 
the speed of which she was capable. 

The frigate did not make directly for 
the sloop, but laid a course that would 
carry her between the latter and Canseau 
harbor, thus cutting off all chance of her 
escape. 

Captain Perkins, who had been instantly 
aroused, noted this with a grim smile. 

“ Mounseer ’s no fool,” he said. “ He 


PURSUED AND PURSUING. 


149 


knows he's got us in a tight place, and 
he ’s in no particular hurry. He thinks 
he ’ll just play with us like he was a cat 
after catching a mouse.” 

All the crew of the sloop, save Pickle, 
who still slept on, were now on deck and 
watching the advance of the frigate. 

u How grandly she looks ! ” exclaimed 
Prince, who could not withhold praise even 
from the enemy when it was well deserved. 
“ See how her sails fill out, and how trim 
and clean they are, and look what a lot of 
guns she must have ! If there are many 
more like her at Louisbourg our own ships 
would not stand much chance against 
them.” 

In spite of their utmost endeavor to im- 
prove the speed of the sloop, the frigate 
gained steadily, and in doleful tones the 
colonials exchanged conjectures as to how 
they would be dealt with by their cap- 
tors, and whether they might be soon 
exchanged for prisoners, taken by their 
own people. 

Prince, by way of temporary diversion, 


150 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

had climbed to the crosstrees, and was 
standing there, sweeping the horizon with 
his glance, when suddenly he uttered a cry 
of joy, and, pointing toward the mainland, 
now clearly in view, cried out : — 

“ Hurrah ! the warships are coming out ! 
I see them — one — • two — three of them — 
Thank God, we’re saved! The French- 
men shall not get us after all ! ” 

All eyes were instantly turned in the 
direction of the land, and sure enough, just 
emerging from the entrance of the Strait 
of Canseau, there could be made out four 
vessels under full sail. 

The revulsion of feeling on board the 
sloop can hardly be described. From the 
depths of despair to the heights of re- 
joicing the colonials were raised in an 
instant. 

They had nothing to fear from the frig- 
ate now. Already, no doubt, the timely 
succor was perceived on board her, and the 
one concern of her commander would be 
to save his own ship ; and in the first flush 
of their joy they grasped one another’s 


PURSUED AND PURSUING. 151 

hands, and smote each other on the back, 
and even broke into a clumsy kind of 
dance. 

Favored by the breeze, which was just in 
the right quarter for them, the colonial war 
vessels hurried after the frigate, and the 
latter, sullenly relinquishing all hope of 
making a capture, sheered oft so as to get 
the full benefit of the wind, and thus make 
good her escape. 

The quick change from imperilled fugi- 
tives to exultant spectators was very much 
appreciated by the crew of the sloop, and 
Captain Perkins promptly altered his course 
so that he might follow the chase of the 
frigate as long as possible. 

At first the colonial ships came up very 
fast, and, getting within range of the 
enemy, opened fire upon her from their 
bow chasers, to which the French replied 
with their stern guns. 

But on both sides the aim was poor, and 
the balls ricochetted harmlessly over the 
waves. 

This running engagement, however, was 


152 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

maintained for an hour or more without 
any damage being done, and by this time 
the morning breeze had risen to so strong 
a wind that Captain Perkins thought it 
expedient to go right about, and lay his 
course for Canseau, leaving the capture of 
the frigate an unsettled question. 

Pickle had been aroused from sleep by 
the report of the cannon, and had come 
up on deck looking rather ghastly. 

“ What ’s happening ? ” he asked, his big 
brown eyes full of eager inquiry. “ Are we 
trying to take another prize ? ” 

“ We’ve just narrowly escaped being 
taken ourselves,’’ answered Prince, putting 
his arm lovingly about him, for he seemed 
very pale and weak. “ That big French 
frigate was coming right after us, when in 
the nick of time three of our war vessels 
popped out of Canseau, and the Frenchman 
suddenly changed his mind. See how he’s 
doing his best to get away ; he ’s no idea of 
fighting.” 

“ I wish he would stop and fight it out,” 
exclaimed Pickle, regretfully. “ What a 


PURSUED AND PURSUING. 153 

fine sight it would be for us! We could 
see the whole thing/ ’ 

“ Ah ! he knows better/’ responded 
Prince ; “ our vessels would be sure to 

get the best of him.” 

The remainder of the run was made 
without further incident, and a little before 
mid-day the sloop sailed proudly in amongst 
the colonial fleet, flaunting from her mast 
every bit of bunting that could be found on 
board, while her exultant crew fired off 
their muskets and pistols in rapid succes- 
sion by way of a feu dejoie. 

They were delighted to find that theirs 
was the first prize brought in, and Pickle 
was warmly praised for his prompt and 
plucky action when the Frenchmen were 
making so good an attempt to recover pos- 
session of the sloop. 

The vessel and prisoners were handed 
over to Commander Pepperell, who ex- 
pressed great satisfaction at their capture, 
and then the prize crew went back to their 
former places in the camp, feeling all the 
more proud of their success because they 


154 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

were the first of those who had gone out 
cruising to return with full hands. 

Before sundown, the war vessels came 
in, — after chasing the French frigate a 
long way without being able to overtake 
her, — and by the end of the week the other 
cruisers showed up, having managed to 
take four more prizes between them, all 
sloops deeply laden with supplies for 
Louisbourg. 

This first taste of success greatly inspired 
the New Englanders. They held praise 
services around the camp-fires at night, 
and Parson Moody gave an extra keen 
edge to the big axe he had brought for 
the express purpose of hewing in pieces 
the altars of Antichrist in the French 
stronghold. 

On the following Monday the colonial 
camp was thrown into commotion by the 
announcement of the appearance of several 
large ships in the offing. 

Could these be the dreaded French men- 
of-war, and were they coming to attack the 
fleet at anchor, which, on account of the 


PURSUED AND PURSUING. 155 

superiority in the weight and range of 
their guns they might bombard from a 
distance beyond the reach of the New 
England cannon ? 

The crews rushed to quarters, and the 
volunteers on land loaded their muskets, 
although neither force knew exactly how 
they were to meet the threatened peril. 

Prince took up his fife, and Pickle his 
drum. If there was to be fighting, their 
friends would need all the inspiration mar- 
tial music could afford, and they would do 
their best to supply it. 

But happily the preparation proved all 
unnecessary, for the new-comers were 
the British ships “ Superbe,” “ Eltham,” 
“ Launceston,” and “ Mermaid,” the former 
carrying sixty guns, and the others being 
fine frigates of forty guns each. 

They presented an imposing appearance, 
as they sailed up the harbor, with colors 
flying from every mast, and their bulwarks 
lined with sailors cheering lustily, and 
Parson Moody was moved to announce a 
general praise service to be held as soon as 


156 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

the thrice-welcome Englishmen had been 
received with fitting honors. 

This most important addition to the colo- 
nial forces was due to the forethought of 
Governor Shirley. He had realized the 
need of such support from the outset, and 
had sent an express boat to Antigua, where 
there was a small British squadron, entreat- 
ing its co-operation. 

But Commodore Peter Warren, who was 
in command, could not venture to accede to 
the request without the approval of the 
Admiralty authorities, and he accordingly 
felt bound, although very regretfully, to 
decline. 

As it happened, however, he had written 
to the Duke of Newcastle, some time before, 
stating that Acadia and the fisheries were 
in great danger, and that ships-of-war were 
needed for their protection, upon which the 
Duke had replied, ordering him to sail for 
Boston, and concert measures with Governor 
Shirley, “ for the annoyance of the enemy, 
and his Majesty ’s service in North 
America.” 


PURSUED AND PURSUING. 157 

This letter reached him only a few days 
after he had sent his refusal of Shirley’s 
request, and now thinking himself suffi- 
ciently authorized to give the desired aid, 
he gladly made all sail for Boston. 

Before reaching there, he met a schooner 
from which he learned that the expedition 
against Louisbourg had already sailed, so 
at once he changed his course, and made 
directly for Canseau, where he presently 
arrived, to the great rejoicing of the colo- 
nials, who were henceforth no longer exer- 
cised as to danger from French ships-of- 
war. 

After three long weeks of waiting for 
the ice to leave Gabarus Bay, there at last 
came the eagerly expected announcement 
that the Bay was clear, and on the evening 
of April 29 the transports sailed out of 
Canseau harbor, and laid a course for Louis- 
bourg, whither the British men-of-war and 
their own cruisers had already preceded 
them to blockade the harbor. 


CHAPTER XII. 


THE LANDING AT LOUISBOURG. 

CCORDING to the programme laid 



1 down by Governor Shirley, the colo- 
nial fleet was to reach Louisbourg by nine 
o’clock the same evening, so as to effect 
the taking of it “ while the enemy were 
asleep; ” but an impertinent calm that had 
not been allowed for kept the vessels nearly 
stationary all night, and it was not until 
the following morning that they came in 
sight of the object of their attack. 

The Pomeroy boys, in order to get the 
best possible glimpse of the French fortress, 
climbed to the crosstrees at break of dawn, 
and stood on either side of the mast, reck- 
ing naught of their precarious hold in their 
eagerness. 

When at last Louisbourg did come into 
view they were both silent for a space, and 


THE LANDING AT LOUISBOURG. 159 

then Pickle gave an exclamation of 
disappointment : — 

“ Why, Prince ! ” he cried, “ can that 
really be the place ? It does not look like 
a very great fortress, does it ? ” 

In truth, Louisbourg did not present a 
very imposing spectacle in the bright morn- 
ing light, for the buildings, with few 
exceptions, were small, and the ramparts 
that belted them, massive though they 
actually were, rose to no conspicuous 
height. 

The disappointment of Pickle, who had 
in mind a great body of battlemented walls 
with crenellated towers rising here and 
there above them after the fashion of the 
mediaeval fortresses he had read of in his 
history, was, therefore, very natural, and 
Prince shared it to the full. 

“ It is certainly very different from what 
I looked for,” he said, “ but it may be very 
strong for all that.” 

In this he spoke more truly than he 
knew, for Louisbourg, despite its unimpres- 
sive appearance, had, both by natural and 


160 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

human device, defences of tremendous 
strength. 

It stood upon a tongue of land, which 
lay between the harbor and the open sea, 
and was prolonged eastward by reefs and 
shoals that served to partly bar the entrance 
to the port, leaving a navigable passage 
not more than half a mile in width. 

The passage was commanded by a power- 
ful battery called the “ Island Battery,” be- 
cause it occupied a rocky islet at the west 
side of the channel, and was also secured 
by another detached work, called the 
“ Grand ” or “ Royal Battery,” that stood 
on the shore of the harbor, opposite the 
entrance, and more than a mile from the 
town. 

It was from this very battery that the 
sanguine colonials calmly proposed to sup- 
ply their deficiency in heavy artillery, as 
they knew it to be mounted with nearly 
twoscore forty-two pounders, which would 
form a most material addition to their im- 
perfect equipment. 

Owing to these two batteries a hostile 


THE LANDING AT LOUISBOURG. 161 

squadron trying to force its way into the 
harbor would be exposed to a flank fire 
from the one, and a front fire from the 
other, and consequently have a rather hard 
time of it. 

But the strongest line of defence of the 
fortress was drawn across the base of the 
tongue of land from the harbor to the sea, 
a distance of about twelve hundred yards. 

The fosse was eighty feet wide, and 
over thirty feet deep, and the rampart 
of earth faced with masonry was about 
sixty feet thick, while the glacis sloped 
down to a vast marsh that in itself formed 
one of the best defences of the place. 

Without counting its outworks, the for- 
tress showed embrasures for one hundred 
and forty-eight cannon, but the number 
actually mounted was much less, probably 
falling short of a hundred, — not, of course, 
counting the threescore heavy pieces at 
the Grand and Island Batteries. 

Against this formidable armament the 
New Englanders had the audacity to bring 
some thirty-four cannon and mortars of 
11 


162 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

much inferior weight, to be used in bom- 
barding the stronghold should they chance 
to fail of carrying it by surprise u while 
the enemy were asleep.” 

One other item of their outfit should 
not be omitted. Although their own largest 
pieces were only twenty-two pounders, they 
brought with them a goodly store of forty- 
two pound balls. For what purpose for- 
sooth? Why, to be used in the cannon of 
that calibre which they were to capture 
from their enemies, and turn against 
them to their utter undoing. Verily, self- 
confidence could no further go ! 

The appearance of the colonial fleet was 
by no means unexpected at Louisbourg. 
Through spies and informers the garrison 
there had learned of the New England 
enterprise in good time to have put them- 
selves on guard against it, but, as it hap- 
pened, there was much internal dissension 
in the French fortress. A serious revolt 
had broken out amongst the regular troops 
the preceding Christmas, which, although 
quieted, had caused the officers to lose 


THE LANDING AT LOUISBOURG. 163 

confidence in their men, and then again, 
the Governor, Chevalier Duchambon, suc- 
cessor of Duquesnel, who had died in the 
autumn, was not the man for such a crisis 
as now had to be faced. 

The timely warnings, therefore, went 
for nothing. According to the Habitant de 
Louisbourg, whose graphic and sprightly 
letter gives so clear an account of the 
French side of the siege, they lost precious 
moments in useless deliberation, and res- 
olutions no sooner made than broken. 
Nothing to the purpose was done, so that 
they were as much taken by surprise as if 
their assailants had pounced upon them 
unawares. 

At daybreak on the thirtieth of April, 
then, the whole of the colonial transports 
came in sight, standing toward Flat Point, 
which projected into Gabarus Bay, three 
miles west of the town. 

The “Mary and Martha,” to the great 
satisfaction of the Pomeroys, had worked 
herself into the front line of the transports, 
and they were accordingly able to survey 


164 FIFE AND DKTJM AT LOUISBOUKG. 

the whole proceedings from their lofty 
eyrie on the crosstrees. 

Pickle quivered so with excitement that 
he seemed in danger of losing his hold 
and tumbling to the deck, but Prince, 
although the tense expression of his face 
showed how he was stirred, kept as still 
as a statue, and had sufficient command of 
himself to warn his brother : — 

“ Take care, Pickle. Don’t be so rest- 
less lest you lose your footing, and fall. 
It would be a sorry thing for you to miss 
all the fighting in that way.” 

Pickle laughed, and took a tighter hold 
of the rigging. 

“ That would indeed be a poor business 
for me. But see ! ” he cried, pointing 
toward the land, “ the French are com- 
ing to oppose our landing ! ” 

Sure enough, a body of troops could be 
seen hurrying over the low hills that lay 
between Louisbourg and the bay. It was 
a detachment of some eighty men, under 
command of one Morpain, sent out by the 
Governor, and they were to be joined by 


THE LANDING AT LOUISBOURG. 165 

forty more already on the watch near the 
expected point of disembarkation. 

At the same time cannon were fired and 
alarm bells rung at Louisbourg to summon 
the militia of the neighborhood. 

As soon as they saw the boats being made 
ready, the Pomeroys descended from the 
mast, and, taking their drum and fife, and 
their weapons, eagerly awaited their turn to 
get into a boat. 

“ I would greatly like to be in the first 
boat to reach the shore,” said Prince, his 
handsome face beaming as though they 
were starting on some pleasant picnic. “ I 
know that father would be glad to hear 
of it.” 

So well regarded were the twins by their 
associates, that no one sought to thwart 
their plan to get into the first boat to leave 
the “Mary and Martha,” and accordingly, 
to their unspeakable delight they presently 
found themselves in the bow of one that 
was moving toward Flat Point. 

“We ’re right in the front ! ” cried Pickle 
gleefully, giving his brother an ecstatic 


166 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

nudge. “ Come, let us give them a 
tune.” 

“That we will,” assented Prince, and, 
pulling out his fife, he struck up an inspir- 
ing lilt learned from the old Band Sergeant, 
to which Pickle rattled out a stirring ac- 
companiment. 

The martial strain rang high and clear 
above the confused murmur of voices and 
the deepening rumble of oars, as boat after 
boat, packed with stalwart, eager men, joined 
the procession, and the men greeted it with 
a rousing cheer that brought the flush of 
pride to the faces of the performers. 

With rowers straining upon their stout 
ash blades, the heavily-laden boats surged 
shoreward, and had already accomplished 
more than half the distance when, to the 
surprise of their occupants, the signal of 
recall was displayed by the flagship 
“ Shirley.” 

“ What can that mean ? ” cried Pickle, 
pausing in his playing, and glaring back 
at the flag as though he fain would blast 
it with his fiery glance. “ Surely the com- 


THE LANDING AT LOUISBOURG. 167 

mander is not afraid of those few French- 
men! Why, they would not stand up to 
us for a minute ! ” 

“Of course not/’ assented Prince, his 
tone showing not a whit less indignation, 
“ but we must go back notwithstanding ; ” 
and so the boats returned, to the manifest 
exultation of the French soldiers, who evi- 
dently were satisfied that their appearance 
had caused the retreat. 

But in this they were sadly mistaken, 
and their rejoicings altogether premature. 

Commander Pepperell was no less wise 
than brave. He realized that the rocks 
and surf were more to be dreaded than the 
enemy, and that, therefore, the landing 
must needs be managed with great care. 

It was quite clear to him that the French- 
men would reach Flat Point first, and be 
able to dispose themselves on the rocky 
shore so as to pour a galling fire upon the 
boats without any risk to themselves. 

He therefore recalled the boats in order 
that others might join them, and then the 
whole party might proceed .to another land- 


168 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

ing-place two miles farther up Gabarus 
Bay, called Freshwater Cove. 

When the Pomeroys understood this, 
their good spirits returned, and they took 
up drum and fife with fresh vigor. 

As soon as Morpain and his party awoke 
to the true meaning of the Commander’s 
strategy, they set off along shore to 
frustrate it. 

Then ensued a most exciting race. Every 
oar in the boats was double-banked, and 
those who were not rowing shouted en- 
couragement to those who were. 

The heavy boats tore through the water 
in a smother of foam, going remarkably 
fast for such clumsy craft, while Prince 
and Pickle in the foremost one played with 
all their skill and strength, and from the 
crowded decks of the transports came cheer 
after cheer rolling over the ruffled surface of 
the bay. 

At first the issue hung in doubt, for the 
Frenchmen scrambled over the rocks very 
rapidly, but presently the boats, having 
much less distance to cover, gained the ad- 

































































































































' 





























































THE LANDING AT LOUISBOURG. 169 

vantage and reached the landing-place full 
five minutes ahead. 

They were very precious minutes, and 
the intrepid invaders made the most of 
them. 

The beach being gravelly, the boats ran 
right onto it without injury, and the 
moment their boat grounded, Prince and 
Pickle sprang out, although the water was 
ankle-deep, and, dashing ashore, swung 
their hats above their heads, as they 
shouted joyously : — 

“ Hurrah ! hurrah ! We ’re first ashore ! 
Come on, New Englanders ! ” 

Laughing at the exultant conceit of the 
two boys, the men tumbled pell-mell out of 
the boats, and hastened to meet the French 
soldiers, who were now near at hand. 

Their muskets were ready primed, and 
while the enemy were still a good way 
off: they poured into them a volley with 
deadly effect, following it up by a furious 
charge that gave the French no time to 
rally. 

So well aimed was the volley, and so 


170 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

impetuous the charge, that — although the 
numbers on both sides were about equal — 
the enemy, after a scattered and badly 
directed volley, broke and fled, leaving six 
of their number dead upon the field, and 
six more prisoners in the hands of the 
invaders. 

Great was the gladness of the colonials ! 
Their own loss being insignificant (it con- 
sisted of but two men slightly wounded) 
they could, therefore, rejoice without stint, 
and as boat after boat bumped on the 
beach, its occupants were greeted with 
hearty cries of : — 

“ Come along ! Make yourselves at 
home! There’s plenty of room. Moun- 
seer won’t say you nay.” 

Ere nightfall, two thousand men had 
landed safely, and the remaining two thou- 
sand came ashore at their leisure on the 
following day. 

Flushed with their first success, and de- 
lighted at being once more released from 
the crowded transports, the colonials at 
once set about preparing their encamp- 


THE LANDING AT LOUISBOURG. 171 

ment, working to such good purpose that 
by the end of a couple of days they 
were quite settled down, and ready to 
begin the siege of Louisbourg in good 
earnest. 


CHAPTER XIII. 


HOW PRINCE HOISTED THE COLORS. 

HEN the little brush with the enemy 



” at the landing-place, in which they 
had had no chance to take part, was over, 
Prince and Pickle, naturally enough, fol- 
lowed to the scene of conflict, reaching it 
just as the French fled, leaving their dead 
to the mercy of the invaders. 

The six soldiers who had fallen lay close 
together, and as the boys looked at them, 
their feelings were strongly moved. 

It was their first meeting with death in 
that form, and the lust of battle having 
abated within them, they were free to feel 
the horror of war as thus presented. 

“ The poor fellows ! ” said Prince in a 
tone of profound pity. “ It is all over with 
them. See, that one was shot in the head, 
and this one in the heart. Our men know 


HOW PRINCE HOISTED THE COLORS. 173 

how to aim better than they do, or some of 
us would have been killed too. How 
dreadful this fighting is ! Just think, 
Pickle, how sorry they would be at home 
if we had been killed, and yet we ’ve got 
to run the risk of it every time we go out 
to battle.” 

“ That ’s so,” responded Pickle, his coun- 
tenance bearing an expression of unwonted 
soberness. “ Somebody ’s sure to be killed 
every time, and we must take our chances 
with the others. I wonder shall we both 
get safe back to Boston. Perhaps one of 
us will be losing an arm or a leg, like 
Master Hancock.” 

Prince smiled at this suggestion. The 
idea of such boys as they were being thus 
crippled had something of the ludicrous 
about it that he was quick to perceive. 

“ I hope not,” he returned. “ But if I 
had to choose between losing an arm or a 
leg and losing my life, I wouldn't take 
long in making up my mind.” 

“ Will we be always playing our fife and 
drum, or will we be allowed to take part in 


174 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

the fighting, do you think ?” inquired 
Pickle, with that quick change of thought 
so characteristic of him and speaking some- 
what anxiously, for he did not relish the 
idea of being a mere spectator of the com- 
ing struggle. 

“ Never fear but we shall have plenty of 
chance to distinguish ourselves,” replied 
Prince with a reassuring smile. “ There ’ll 
be need of help from everybody before that 
great fortress is taken. I wonder what our 
commander will do first.” 

Colonel Pepperell lost little time in show- 
ing his hand. He had not come to capture 
Louisbourg by the slow process of invest- 
ment and blockade. His programme was 
to take it by storm as promptly as possible. 

Accordingly, on the morning of May 2d, 
he ordered Captain Vaughan to lead four 
hundred men to the top of the hills near 
the town, where they gave three cheers in 
right hearty fashion by way of a salute, 
decidedly to the discomposure of the French, 
although they were of opinion that the un- 
welcome visitors seemed a disorderly crowd. 


HOW PRINCE HOISTED THE COLORS. 175 

But Vaughan's movement was no mere 
morning parade. It had a definite object, 
which he forthwith proceeded to execute. 

Marching his men rapidly behind the 
hills in rear of the Grand Battery to the 
northeast arm of the harbor, he came upon 
the extensive magazines of naval stores 
that he knew to be there. 

No pretence of defending them was made 
by the French, valuable though they were, 
and the colonials took possession without 
having to strike a blow. 

As the fife and drum corps formed part 
of Vaughan’s detachment, the Pomeroy 
boys, to their great delight, shared in this 
bloodless enterprise, and when they saw the 
great piles of pitch, rosin, tar, and other 
material, they wondered what their own 
people would do with them. 

“ What a quantity there is of it ! " Pickle 
exclaimed admiringly. “If we have to 
carry it all over to our camp it will keep 
us busy for some time, won't it ? ” 

“ Yes, indeed," said Prince, “ and that 's 
not just the kind of work I ’m anxious for." 


176 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

But there was no need for apprehension 
on his part. However glad the colonials 
might have been to possess themselves of 
so rich a supply of useful stores, to remove 
them to their own camp was utterly im- 
practicable, and so Captain Vaughan gave 
the order : — 

“ Set fire to the stuff. It will have to 
burn. We can do nothing else with 
it.” 

His words did not need to be repeated. 
The torch was quickly applied by willing 
hands, and presently vast volumes of 
smoke rising from the magazines told the 
garrison at Louisbourg of their loss. 

Emboldened by the non-resistance of 
the French, Captain Vaughan determined 
to do some reconnoitring ere he returned. 
He accordingly sent the bulk of his party 
back, and with a small company, not 
exceeding a score, remained overnight 
in the neighborhood of the burning store- 
houses. 

No sooner did the Pomeroys hear of his 
purpose than they went to him with the 


HOW PRINCE HOISTED THE COLORS. 177 

request that they might be permitted to 
remain. 

“ Why, you young game-cocks ! ” laughed 
the captain, giving Pickle a smack on the 
shoulder. “ You must be very hot for 
fighting. Don’t you know that we may 
have a regiment of Mounseers down on us 
at any moment ? ” 

“ Well, we ’re not afraid,” answered 
Pickle, looking at Prince, who nodded 
assent to the statement, “ and we ’d rather 
stay with you than go back to camp.” 

“All right then, you shall,” responded 
Captain Vaughan, in his hearty way. “ You 
seem to know how to take care of your- 
selves, and we might want your music 
before we get through.” 

Very few of the little party got any 
sleep that night, there being constant ap- 
prehension of attack under cover of dark- 
ness ; but they might just as well have 
snoozed soundly, for they were entirely 
undisturbed. 

In the morning, after a breakfast of bis- 
cuits and water, they set out to reconnoi- 
12 


178 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

tre, and presently came opposite the Grand 
Battery. 

Captain Vaughan regarded this forti- 
fication with deep interest. Inside its 
mighty ramparts stood the heavy can- 
non for which the New Englanders had 
so thoughtfully provided the supply of 
forty-two-pound balls. 

Unless the battery was taken, the balls 
would be useless. Not only so, but until 
it was taken not much progress could be 
made in the siege. 

“ I wish I had not sent my men back,” 
he soliloquized regretfully. “ If I had them 
here, I think I would have a try at the 
fort this very morning.” 

Just then Pickle, who had been ranging 
about like a hound running free, came up 
breathless, and with a countenance express- 
ing that he had something important to 
tell. 

“ Look ! look ! ” he panted out, point- 
ing to the Grand Battery, while the others 
gathered around him eager to learn his 
news. u There ’s nobody in the fort. 


HOW PRINCE HOISTED THE COLORS. 179 

They ’ve run away. See, there’s no flag 
on the mast, and no smoke coming out of 
the chimneys! ” 

Unable at first to credit such good news, 
Captain Vaughan, hastening to a higher 
point of observation, scrutinized the fort 
intently, and as he did, the doubt on his 
face disappeared. 

“ I believe you ’re right, my boy ! ” he 
exclaimed, grasping Pickle’s hand and shak- 
ing it vigorously. “ There certainly seems 
no sign of life about the place. But it may 
be only one of their rascally tricks, and we 
must not allow them to take us in a trap. 
Let me see now what would be best to 
do.” 

It happened that one of his party was a 
Cape Cod Indian, and as the captain 
looked around for some solution of the 
problem before him, his eye fell upon the 
red-skin. 

Instantly an idea flashed into his mind 
that he at once proceeded to carry out. 

Calling up the Indian, he offered him a 
good reward if he would pretend to be 


180 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

drunk, and in that condition make his way 
to the battery. 

The Indian promptly agreed, and set off 
across the uneven ground, reeling and 
staggering to perfection, while tlie New 
Englanders, lying prone, watched him with 
throbbing pulses. 

Nearer and nearer to the battlements the 
Indian wended his tortuous way, and still 
not a head showed above them, and no 
challenge came from them. 

At last he reached one of the embrasures, 
and then, throwing off his pretence of 
drunkenness, clambered up with the lithe 
agility of his race, and vanished. 

A moment later he appeared on the top 
of the rampart waving his arms, and giving 
forth loud whoops of triumph. 

The little band of colonials replied with 
cheers, and then broke into a run for the 
fort, Captain Yaughan in the lead. 

The movement soon resolved itself into a 
go-as-you-please race, in which the captain 
and the Pomeroys not being handicapped 
with heavy muskets, had a decided advan- 


HOW PRINCE HOISTED THE COLORS. 181 

tage over the men that enabled them to 
reach the goal first, the boys being careful 
to keep slightly behind their superior officer, 
although they might easily have outstripped 
him. 

They found the Indian the sole occupant 
of the place, and as soon as they could re- 
cover their wind, sent up cheer after cheer 
at this most unexpected and therefore all 
the more welcome achievement. 

Captain Vaughan could hardly contain 
himself for joy. Having been the first to 
suggest to Governor Shirley the reduction 
of Louisbourg, it seemed to him nothing 
short of providential that the taking of 
the Grand Battery upon which the success 
of the whole enterprise mainly depended 
should have fallen to him. 

“ Let us thank God, my friends, for this 
signal instance of the favor with which He 
regards our undertaking,” he said, rever- 
ently removing his hat; and then lifting up 
his voice, which was strong and clear, he 
began to sing one of the Psalms, the others 
joining in as they had ability. 


182 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

While they were thus engaged, Prince 
touched Pickle on the shoulder, and whis- 
pered in his ear: — 

“ Come with me. I have an idea.” 

The boy’s comely face was illuminated 
by some daring conception, his eyes shone, 
and there was a significant pursing of his 
lips, which could not be mistaken. 

“ What is it, Prince ? ” his brother asked 
eagerly. “ What are you going to do ? ” 

“ Come along, and I will show you,” was 
all Prince would say, as he hurried towards 
the tall flagstaff that stood in the centre of 
the fort. 

On reaching it, Prince was much cha- 
grined to find that the French when evac- 
uating the battery had not only hauled down 
their flag, but removed the halyards also, 
leaving the staff perfectly bare. 

“ Chut ! That ’s too bad ! ” he exclaimed 
in a tone of keen disappointment. “ They ’ve 
taken away the line. How can I manage 
now ? ” 

Pickle, still in the dark as to the other’s 
purpose, could offer no suggestion, but after 


HOW PRINCE HOISTED THE COLORS. 183 

a moment’s earnest thought, Prince sud- 
denly snapped his fingers exultantly, 
crying : — 

“ I ’ve got it ! I ’ve got it ! ” and pro- 
ceeded to hastily take off his scarlet tunic. 

“ What are you going to do ? ” demanded 
Pickle impatiently, for he still failed to 
catch on to his brother’s design. 

“ I ’m going to fasten my red coat to the 
top of that staff,” replied Prince, pointing 
upward. 

Pickle gave a whistle of astonishment 
and incredulity. 

“ How can you manage that ? ” he asked. 
“ There are no lines to haul it up with.” 

“I’m just about to show you,” responded 
Prince, who had found a good piece of 
string in one of his pockets. “ Put your 
arms tight around the staff, and let me up 
on your shoulders.” 

Pickle did as he was told, and Prince, 
gripping the collar of the tunic with his 
teeth, climbed on his shoulders, and thence 
proceeded to shin up the flagstaff. 

He was an expert climber, but being en- 


184 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

cumbered by the coat, found it harder work 
than he expected. 

Yet he kept on gallantly, winning up- 
ward foot by foot, while Pickle, thrilling 
with admiration, encouraged him by cries 
of, “ Well done, Prince ! you ’re getting on 
splendidly ; you ’ll soon be at the top ! ” 
Nor was Pickle alone in cheering him on. 
The attention of the rest of the party was 
by this time drawn to the boys, and they 
surrounded the staff with shouts of applause, 
Captain Yaughan exclaiming : — 

“ By thunder ! but that boy ’s a hero ! ” 
Although every muscle was strained to 
the utmost, and every sinew ached acutely, 
Prince toiled upward until he need go no 
farther, for he had reached the ball at the 
top. 

Here he rested a minute, and then with 
trembling fingers tied the tunic to the staff 
so that it would spread out in the breeze 
after the manner of a flag. 

“ Hip, hip, hurrah ! ” shouted Captain 
Yaughan, lustily supported by the others, 
and just at that moment the roar of cannon 


HOW PRINCE HOISTED THE COLORS. 185 

sounded from the town batteries, and a 
volley of deadly iron missiles hurtled 
through the still morning air, having the 
daring boy on the flagstaff for their 
target. 


CHAPTER XIV. 


HOW CAPTAIN VAUGHAN HELD THE GRAND 
BATTERY. 

TDRINCE’S escape was nothing short of 
marvellous. The French gunners 
showed good marksmanship, and their 
round shot flew to right and left of the 
flagstaff, one passing so close that the 
wind of it almost knocked Prince off like 
a squirrel struck by a schoolboy’s stone. 

But happily he was untouched, and slid 
safely to the ground, to be half smothered 
by the congratulations of his companions. 

“ I shall take great pleasure in reporting 
this to General Pepperell, my boy,” said 
Captain Vaughan, as he shook him warmly 
by the hand. “ You have done a very brave 
thing, and one that reflects credit upon us 
all.” 

Prince blushed, and could find nothing 
to say in reply except a word of thanks, 


CAPTAIN VAUGHAN. 


187 


.but his heart bounded at the idea of the 
commander being informed, for he knew 
what pleasure that would give his father 
and mother when it came to their ears. 

Pickle was simply exuberant. Not a 
trace of jealousy chilled his pride at his 
twin brother's exploit. Indeed he could 
hardly have felt happier had he performed 
it himself. 

And now, having with such surprising 
ease taken possession of the Grand Battery, 
the question was to hold it, for, as Captain 
Vaughan shrewdly surmised, when the 
French recovered from the temporary panic 
caused by the burning of the storehouses, 
the dense smoke of which had drifted 
across the fort and sadly scared the garri- 
son, they would most probably attempt its 
recovery. 

Once more, therefore, requisitioning the 
services of the Cape Cod Indian, he de- 
spatched him to Commander Pepperell with 
the following note : — 

“ May it please your Honor to be in- 
formed that by the grace of God, and the 


188 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

courage of thirteen men, I entered the 
Royal Battery about nine o’clock, and am 
waiting for a reinforcement and a flag.” 

The next consideration was food, the 
New Englanders’ knapsacks being quite 
empty, and so, while half the party stood 
on guard, the remainder set about foraging. 

This was fine fun for the Pomeroys. 
They darted hither and thither like bees 
a-search for nectar, rummaging every closet 
and cupboard they discovered with the 
keenness of Parisian detectives. 

Pickle was the first to find. In a dark 
corner of one of the casements he lighted 
upon a well-concealed larder in which the 
cook of the garrison evidently had kept his 
choicest supplies for the officer’s table. In 
the hurry and confusion of leaving the fort 
this had been overlooked, and there it 
was now, well stocked with game, biscuits, 
butter, preserved fruits, wine, and other 
luxuries. 

“ Whopee ! ” shouted the fortunate finder, 
grabbing a biscuit in each hand, for he was 
feeling ravenous. “ I ’ve found the French- 


CAPTAIN YATJGHAN. 189 

men’s pantry ! Prince ! Prince ! Come here ! 
Come here ! Now we can have a feast.” 

Prince, who had been exploring in an- 
other direction, hurried up, and soon had 
his hands full of biscuits, and was munch- 
ing busily. 

“Let us tell Captain Vaughan,” he said. 
“ I don’t think the others have found any- 
thing yet.” 

Pickle nodded assent, his mouth being 
too full for utterance, and, taking up a big 
handful of biscuits apiece, they hastened 
to report their welcome discovery, and to 
distribute the biscuits. 

Great was the rejoicing of the little 
party. They were all suffering the pangs 
of hunger, and the prospect of a substantial 
meal made them jubilant. 

A couple of them knew how to cook, 
and without loss of time a big fire was 
blazing in the kitchen, and the appetizing 
savor of roasting meat made the colonials’ 
mouths water. 

What a breakfast that was ! Everybody 
in the highest spirits, as hungry as bears 


190 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

after their winter’s sleep, and having before 
them the best fare they had tasted since 
leaving Boston. 

They ate, and they talked, and they 
joked, and laughed as if they had not a 
care in the world. No doubt troubled 
their minds as to the early and complete 
success of the great enterprise in which 
they were engaged. Louisbourg was as 
good as taken already. 

They had thus been enjoying themselves 
for the space of an hour, when Captain 
Yaughan, who from time to time took a 
glance through an embrasure that opened 
toward the town, put an end to their 
revelry by calling out : — 

“ Prepare to meet the enemy ! There are 
boats approaching ! ” 

Instantly the feast was forgotten, and 
every one looked to his arms. 

Half-way across the harbor four boats 
filled with men were to be seen. 

“We must not let them land,” said 
Captain Yaughan. “ If they once set foot 
on shore it will be all over with us. Come, 


CAPTAIN VAUGHAN. 191 

my men, we will go down to the beach, 
and meet them there.” 

Not one of the little band hesitated for 
an instant to thus expose himself, although 
behind the ramparts he would have been 
perfectly safe. 

With muskets ready primed they marched 
down towards the water, and awaited the 
advance of the boats, Prince and Pickle 
playing fife and drum as steadily as though 
they were simply on parade. 

As soon as the New Englanders appeared 
before the ramparts, not only the town 
batteries facing in that direction opened 
fire upon them, but the Island battery also, 
and their exposed situation became one of 
great peril. 

The heavy iron balls came whistling 
through the air with malign murdering 
intent, and crashed against the massive 
ramparts, cracking and splintering the 
masonry, or plunged into the shingly 
beach, spattering with stony hail the heroic 
band of colonials. 

Yet not a man budged or flinched. 


192 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

Although they knew not when the asked- 
for reinforcements might arrive, they were 
resolved to hold their ground until their 
last bullet was fired, when they would re- 
sort to the bayonets if they still survived. 

Regretting keenly that they had no 
firearms of their own so that they might 
contribute to the volleys with which the 
oncoming boats were bein^ plied, Prince 
and Pickle tooted their lively music, doing 
good service in sustaining the spirits of 
their companions. 

Exposed as they were to the cannon 
fire from the town and Island batteries, 
and to the musketry in the boats, the 
immunity of the New Englanders from 
being even wounded was so extraordinary 
as to go far towards justifying their faith 
in being specially favored of Providence. 

The cannon-balls hurtled over their 
heads, and the bullets whizzed to right and 
left of them, but not a man was struck. 

“Pah!” exclaimed Captain Vaughan 
contemptuously, as he reloaded a musket 
he had taken from one of his men, who was 


CAPTAIN VAUGHAN. 


193 


too slow in his use of it. “ Those Mounseers 
couldn’t hit a barn door at twenty paces ! ” 

But if they could not aim well, they 
could show much courage in advancing, 
despite the galling fire that was being 
directed upon them, and Captain Vaughan, 
realizing that with his handful of men he 
could not much longer prevent their land- 
ing, called Prince and Pickle to him. 

“ Go to the other side of the fort,” he said, 
in a tone that showed his keen anxiety, 
“ and see if there is any sign of reinforce- 
ments. We cannot hold our ground here 
many minutes more, for our powder is fast 
giving out.” 

The boys darted off, and, just as they 
climbed through the embrasure, a big round 
shot crashed against the rampart, causing 
a shower of stone splinters, some of which 
struck them sufficiently hard to hurt. 

“ Jerusalem, but that was a narrow 
escape ! ” cried Pickle, putting his hand to 
his cheek, where a bit of stone had cut it 
slightly. “Just a little nearer, and it 
would have done for us, eh, Prince ? ” 

13 


194 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

“ Yes, indeed/’ responded Prince, with an 
indrawing of his breath that showed how 
startled he had been. “ Even if it was only 
a chance shot, it was quite good enough 
for us.” 

Hurrying across the square, they mounted 
the farther wall, and gazed eagerly in the 
direction of their own camp. 

Simultaneously they gave a shout of joy, 
for, coming over the hills, not more than 
half a mile away, was a strong body of 
their own men. 

“Run to meet them, and tell them to 
hurry up,” said Prince, “ and I ’ll go back 
to Captain Vaughan and let him know 
they ’re coming.” 

It was a happy thought, and Pickle in- 
stantly clambered down the wall, and set 
off at the top of his speed, while Prince 
hastened back to cheer Captain Vaughan 
with the good news. 

Reaching the reinforcing party, all 
out of breath, Pickle at first had diffi- 
culty in making himself understood, but 
the moment Lieutenant-Colonel Bradstreet 


CAPTAIN YAUGHAN. 


195 


caught his meaning, he waved his sword 
aloft, and shouting, “ Forward, men, double 
quick, charge ! ” he set the example by 
sprinting over the uneven ground at a 
pace quite astonishing for one of his 
years. 

Making no attempt to preserve order, 
the New Englanders raced each other to 
the battery, climbed through the embra- 
sures, scampered across the inner square, 
and tumbling pell-mell out onto the beach 
in front, spent their last vestige of breath 
in cheers that gladdened the hearts of 
the brave little band still keeping off the 
boats. 

They were not a moment too soon. 
Captain Vaughan’s men had fired their last 
charge. Not a pinch of powder nor ounce 
of lead was left to them, and of course 
in a hand-to-hand struggle with the French 
they would have been quickly overcome by 
sheer force of numbers. 

At sight of the reinforcements, the boats 
stopped, turned about, and then sullenly 
withdrew, after receiving a volley from the 


196 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

new-comers that materially increased the 
loss they had already sustained. 

Captain Vaughan and Lieutenant-Colo- 
nel Bradstreet wrung one another’s hands 
warmly. 

“ God be praised for your timely com- 
ing ! ” exclaimed the former fervently. 
“ Our powder and our strength were alike 
spent, and I was on the eve of ordering my 
men back into the battery, when Master 
Pomeroy brought the glad word of your 
being near.” 

“ You have good right to be a proud man 
this day, Captain Vaughan,” responded 
Bradstreet, “and the noble fellows that are 
with you. With the Grand Battery in our 
hands, we will speedily reduce this proud 
stronghold. Did you observe whether they 
spiked the cannon before vacating the 
fort?” 

“ Yes, they saw to that,” answered 
Vaughan, “but they did it so hastily that 
I believe there will be little difficulty in 
drilling out the touchholes again, and as 
they neither knocked off the trunnions, nor 


CAPTAIN YAUGHAN. 


197 


set fire to the carriages, we will be able to 
make good use of their guns against them- 
selves in a short while.” 

“ Verily, that is good news!” said 
Bradstreet, clapping his hands jubilantly. 
“ Come, now, and let us see what they 
have left for us.” 

A thorough examination of the fort was 
accordingly made, which showed that, al- 
though the French had thrown all their 
loose powder into the well, so that it was 
utterly useless, they had left behind, in 
good condition, a large number of cannon 
cartridges, nearly three hundred big bomb- 
shells, and other ordnance stores that were 
invaluable to the colonials. 

As for the cannon, they numbered thirty 
in all, twenty-eight of them being forty-two 
pounders, which Captain Vaughan declared, 
and as the sequel showed, rightly enough, 
the balls brought from Boston would fit to 
a nicety. 

A score of skilled hands at once set to 
work to drill out the spiked touchholes, 
and by the following morning several of 


198 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

the cannon were ready for use, whereupon 
Brigadier Waldo lost no time in directing 
them against the town. 

How effective was his fire, may be judged 
from the following touching entry in the 
record kept by the Habitant of Louisbourg : 
“The enemy saluted us with our own 
cannon, and made a terrific fire, smashing 
everything within range.” 

With this the attack upon the French 
fortress really began, and its New England 
assailants entertained little doubt as to a 
speedy and successful issue. 


CHAPTER XV. 


TENTING ON THE COLD CAMP GROUND. 

O N the night after their landing, the 
New Englanders had scant accom- 
modation. They slept as best they could 
in the woods. Some had blankets, others 
had none. There was a childlike and 
easy-going dependence upon Providence 
about these men, the like of which the 
world has rarely seen. 

In the morning they set to work en- 
camping with such soldierly belongings as 
they had, and these were not many, nor of 
much account. 

About two miles from Louisbourg a brook 
ran into the sea, on either side of which the 
ground, though rough, was high and dry, 
and here most of the regiments made 
their quarters, — Willard’s, Moulton’s, and 


200 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

Moore’s on the east side, and Burr’s and 
Pepperell’s on the west. 

Some of them on the east saw fit to ex- 
tend themselves towards the town as far 
as the edge of the intervening marsh, but 
were soon forced back to a safer position 
by the cannon-balls of the fortress com- 
ing bowling amongst them. This marsh 
was a flat green sponge of mud and moss 
that stretched clear to the glacis of 
Louisbourg. 

There were not nearly enough tents to 
go around, and many had to resort to the 
use of old sails stretched over poles, while 
others still built rude huts of stone and 
sod, with roofs of spruce boughs overlap- 
ping like a thatch ; for at that early season 
the bark would not peel from the trees. 

On the low rough hills near Louisbourg 
may yet be seen numerous stone-girt de- 
pressions of the surface, which are doubtless 
the sites of these primitive dwellings. 

It was with a hut of this kind that 
Prince and Pickle had perforce to be con- 
tent. Liberally as their father had outfitted 


ON THE COLD CAMP GROUND. 201 

them, he never thought of supplying a 
tent, naturally supposing that this would 
be done by the Government ; and while 
they were away with Captain Vaughan 
burning the storehouses, and capturing 
the Grand Battery, every bit of canvas 
was appropriated by others. 

Fortunately, however, they were pro- 
vided with good blankets, but in spite of 
all their efforts to improve it, the hut was 
at best a cold, damp abode, and they spent 
as little time in it as they possibly could. 

Pickle found great fault with his quarters. 

“ This is shameful bad management ! ” 
he grumbled. “ There should have been 
tents for everybody. I’ll just write a let- 
ter to father, and have him send us one 
by the first transport.” 

“ That ’s a good idea! ” exclaimed Prince. 
“Do so, by all means. We know not how 
long we may be here. In the meantime, 
let us make the best of our hut, which cer- 
tainly is a good deal better than nothing.” 

Pickle accordingly wrote the following 
letter, the reading of which called forth 


202 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 


many exclamations of sympathy in the 
Boston home, and filled the little mother s 
eyes with tears as she thought of her brave, 
handsome boys, who had always enjoyed 
such comfort, having no better bed under 
them than the hard damp ground, and no 
tighter roof over them than a frail thatching 
of spruce boughs. 

My dear Father : — 

I write you this letter, which the Transport 
will take when she sails, to tell you how it is 
going with Prince and me. We have been very 
busy since we landed, for there is a tremendous 
deal of work to be done. Captain Yaughan let 
us go with him when he went away around be- 
hind the hills to where there were some store- 
houses full of pitch, tar, and other things which 
we could not take back to our camp with us, and 
so we set them on fire, and oh ! what a splendid 
big blaze they made, and what an immense 
amount of smoke ! The wind blew the smoke 
right into the Grand Battery, and it frightened 
the Frenchmen so that they all cleared out, leav- 
ing the fort empty. Just fancy, father, soldiers 
being scared by smoke ! So the next morning 
a few of us went to have a peep at the battery, 
and seeing nobody about, made bold to enter it, 


ON THE COLD CAMP GROUND. 203 


and take possession, and as we had no flag, 
Prince climbed up the flagstaff with his red 
coat in his teeth, and fastened it at the top for 
a flag, and when the French saw him they fired 
cannon-balls at him, but could not hit him, 
although one ball went so close by him that the 
wind of it nearly knocked him off the mast. I 
did feel so proud of him when he was up there 
tying his coat to the top of the mast, and Cap- 
tain Yaughan said he was a hero, so you see 
your boys are doing some good here. 

After that the Mounseers, as some of our peo- 
ple call them, rowed across the harbor in boats 
to try and get their fort back again, but we went 
down to the beach, and fired volleys at them so 
that they did not dare land, and so we kept them 
off, although the batteries were sending cannon- 
balls at us, until Colonel Bradstreet came to our 
help with a whole lot of men, and, when the 
French saw that, they rowed back again faster 
than they had come. 

Prince and I had no chance to fire because we 
have no muskets of our own, but we played hard 
on our fife and drum, and that did the men 
good. 

We wish you would send us two good muskets, 
and plenty of powder and ball for them, and do 
please send us a tent, for we have to sleep in a 
horrid little hut we made ourselves out of sods 


204 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

and stone, and it is dreadfully damp, and the 
ground is so hard that it makes us sore to be 
upon it, although we have such good blankets. 

Thus the letter, which was an amazing 
feat for Pickle, who detested everything 
of the kind, ran on, winding up with mes- 
sages of love from both the boys to all the 
dear ones at home. 

Mr. Pomeroy was very proud of that 
letter. Reserved man though he was, he 
could not refrain from showing it to his 
friends, and he took an early opportunity 
of reading it to Governor Shirley, whose 
fine eyes glistened as he said : — 

“ Those are indeed boys to rejoice a 
father's heart. God grant they may re- 
turn to you safe and sound when our 
enterprise is crowned with the success that 
now seems not far distant.” 

The tent and the muskets were duly 
despatched together, with such a hamper 
of good things as only a loving mother 
could prepare, but the communication with 
the camp was slow, and they were many 
days in reaching their destination, during 


ON THE COLD CAMP GROUND. 205 

which the boys had to endure much hard- 
ship. 

The way the New Englanders worked, in 
spite of the discomforts of their situation, 
was no less astonishing than admirable. 

All their guns, stores, and munitions 
had to be landed on a rough, surf-beaten 
beach, which made the task so difficult 
that many boats were smashed in the 
operation. To land the guns big flat boats 
brought from Boston were used. 

The water was bitterly cold, being only 
just free from ice, yet the men waded 
through the icy surf to their waist, carry- 
ing loads of gunpowder and the like upon 
their heads for hour after hour without a 
murmur or sign of shirking such arduous, 
painful work. 

Then they slept on the ground without 
change of clothes during the chill and foggy 
nights, doubtless laying the foundation 
of much future rheumatism, sciatica, and 
similar ailments. 

As an early historian of the siege wrote : 
“ When the hardships they were exposed to 


206 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

come to be considered, the behavior of these 
men will hardly gain credit. They went 
ashore wet, had no dry clothes to cover 
them, were exposed in this condition to cold 
foggy nights, and yet cheerfully underwent 
these difficulties for the sake of executing 
a project they had voluntarily undertaken. ,, 

But the hardy and vigorous New Eng- 
land spirit, the sympathy of numbers, and 
it may perhaps be permitted to add, the 
good New England rum so generously dis- 
pensed as an antidote against chills, bore 
them bravely through it all, and in a 
remarkably short space of time everybody 
was settled ashore. 

Yet this was only the first stage, and 
still harder work awaited the sturdy colo- 
nials. They had to get within striking 
distance of the doomed fortress, and to 
accomplish this their cannon must needs 
be dragged across the marsh to Green Hill, 
a spur of the line of rough heights that 
half encircled the town and harbor. 

Here the first battery was to be planted, 
and from this point other guns were to be 


ON THE COLD CAMP GROUND. 207 

drawn onward to more advanced positions, 
— a distance in all exceeding two miles, and 
deemed by the French insurmountable. 

But they reckoned without New England 
ingenuity and persistence. 

To be sure the fate of the first cannon 
that came to the marsh did seem to justify 
the French faith in the impassability of 
the bog they relied upon to protect them 
from the audacious invaders. 

No sooner did it reach the soft place 
than it began to sink slowly but steadily 
in the mud and moss, first the carriage 
and then the piece itself, until the whole 
thing completely disappeared, to the great 
dismay of the colonials. 

Among the disconcerted spectators was 
a Lieutenant-Colonel Meserve from New 
Hampshire. He was by trade a ship-builder, 
but in exchanging the broadaxe for the 
sword had not forgotten the devices of his 
craft. He had many a time got big timbers 
over soft places, and there were present 
scores of others who had worked at cutting 
and handling masts for the king’s navy. 


208 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

Now these cannon, he reasoned, were not 
a whit more unwieldy or difficult to manage 
than an unhewn mast for a line-of-battle 
ship, and they could be handled just as well 
with a little ingenuity. 

Under Meserve’s direction, therefore, stout 
timber sledges sixteen feet long by five feet 
wide were made. On each of these a can- 
non was placed, and then, a team of no less 
than two hundred men having been har- 
nessed to the sledge with rope-traces and 
breast-straps, it was dragged through the 
mire to the firmer ground beyond. 

It was a dreadfully hard, dirty job, for 
the men sank to their knees at every step, 
and the way had often to be changed, as 
the mossy surface was soon churned into a 
hopeless slough. 

Moreover, the work could be done only 
at night or in thick fog, the route being 
completely exposed to the cannon of the 
town, and time and again the iron balls 
plumped perilously near the bespattered 
toilers. 

But neither the mire discouraged nor the 


ON THE COLD CAMP GROUND. 209 

cannon-balls daunted the resolute New 
Englanders as they slaved away at their 
unlovely task, cheering one another with 
jokes and songs, and prophecies of speedy 
conquest. 

Well might Commander Pepperell write 
to the Duke of Newcastle in ardent lan- 
guage of the cheerfulness of his men under 
almost incredible hardships. Shoes and 
clothing failed until many were in tatters, 
and many more barefooted, yet they labored 
on with such spirit that within four days a 
battery of six guns had been planted on 
Green Hill, which was only a mile from the 
King’s Bastion of Louisbourg. 

In another week they had dragged four 
twenty-two pounders, and ten coehorns — 
miscalled “ cowhorns ” by a rural officer — 
six hundred yards farther, and established 
them within easy range of the citadel. 

Prince and Pickle were not allowed to take 
much part in either the landing through 
the surf or the crossing of the marsh, al- 
though they would have been glad enough to 
help to the full measure of their strength. 

14 


210 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

But the work was not completed without 
their having an experience which created a 
good deal of excitement at the moment. 

The fourth day of the passage of the bog 
was an exceedingly dull and depressing 
one. 

A dense fog enveloped the devoted and 
dirty toilers at the guns, which, while it hid 
them from the ever watchful eyes of the 
enemy, chilled them to the marrow, and, 
being already wearied by their tremendous 
exertions, they showed signs of lagging in 
their work. 

Brigadier Waldo, who was directing the 
operation, could not find it in his heart to 
drive them by hard words, so he bethought 
himself of cheering them with music. 

“Take your fife and drum,” he said to 
the Pomeroys, “ jump on board that sledge, 
and play the liveliest tune you know, until 
the men get it across the marsh.” 

Delighted at the idea, they obeyed with 
alacrity, and presently were the occupants 
of what was certainly the oddest band- 
wagon on record. 


CHAPTER XVI. 


FROM PERIL TO PERIL. 

H EARTENED by the boys’ inspiriting 
music, the two hundred men floun- 
dered through the tenacious mire, tugging 
after them the heavily laden sledge that 
seemed so reluctant to respond to their 
strenuous efforts, and had accomplished 
three-fourths of the distance, when some- 
thing happened which gave them all a 
thorough good scare. 

Despite the thick fog, the French had 
from time to time been cannonading the 
muddy toilers and moilers, but their aim 
was so bad that the human targets paid 
little heed to their attentions. 

The sledge from which Prince and Pickle 
were discoursing martial music had come 
to a stop in a particularly soft and slushy 
part of the bog, and the men were resting 


212 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

preparatory to a fresh effort, when a 
deep boom was heard in the direction of 
the town, and the next moment a forty- 
two pounder cannon-ball came ricochetting 
across the marsh, sending up showers of 
mud at each rebound. 

Pickle caught sight of the great war 
missile as it emerged from the obscurity of 
the fog, and instantly shouted : — 

u Look out ! there comes a cannon-ball ! ” 
But the sentence of warning was not 
finished ere the solid sphere struck the 
sledge amidships, smashing it into kindling- 
wood, and hurling both boys headlong into 
the marsh ! 

A simultaneous cry of consternation went 
up from the men. So complete was the 
destruction of the sledge and the overthrow 
of the boys that they felt sure the latter 
must be killed, and they floundered fran- 
tically through the mire to where they lay 
half buried and senseless. 

Willing hands eagerly lifted the bespat- 
tered forms, and with all possible speed 
they were borne to the firm ground. 


FROM PERIL TO PERIL. 


213 


Pickle’s face was bleeding freely, a big 
splinter having struck him across the tem- 
ple, and Prince seemed to have been hurt 
somewhere in the body. 

Water being brought, the mire was 
washed off, and earnest efforts made to re- 
vive them, but anxious minutes passed be- 
fore first Prince and then Pickle regained 
consciousness. 

“Are you badly hurt? How do you 
feel ? Where are you injured ? ” and simi- 
lar questions poured in upon the twins as 
soon as they came to themselves. 

“ It ’s all in my head,” answered Pickle, 
putting his hand to the wound which had 
been staunched in a rude fashion, and giv- 
ing a pathetic groan. 

“ And it ’s all in my stomach,” murmured 
Prince, squirming as if taken with a cramp. 

In point of fact, they had had a really 
wonderful escape from serious injury, for 
although Pickle’s gashed forehead would 
require attention, and Prince had got pretty 
badly winded, a couple of days’ quiet would 
set them both all right again. 


214 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

The men were highly relieved on this 
becoming clear. The twins were universal 
favorites, and it is not too much to say that 
many of the New Englanders would rather 
have the wounds come to themselves than 
to the Pomeroys. Had they known any- 
thing about “ mascots ” in those days, 
Prince and Pickle would certainly have 
been regarded as such. 

Returning to the camp in their bedrag- 
gled condition, the boys had to answer 
many kind and sympathizing inquiries, 
even Commander Pepperell coming to their 
hut in person to assure himself that their 
injuries were not of a serious nature. 

Continuing their arduous and perilous 
work with unabated vigor, the colonials 
next planted a battery, chiefly of coehorns, 
on a hillock four hundred yards from the 
West Gate, where it greatly annoyed the 
French, and the following night drew 
nearer still, placing an advanced battery of 
fascines just opposite the same gate, and 
within two hundred and fifty yards of it. 

This West Gate was the principal en- 


FROM PERIL TO PERIL. 215 

trance to Louisbourg, and opened upon a 
tract of high firm ground between the 
marsh and the harbor, an arm of which 
extended westward into what was called 
the Barachois, a salt pond formed by a pro- 
jecting spit of sand. 

On the side of the Barachois farthest 
from the town was a hillock where stood 
the house of a habitant named Martissan, 
and not satisfied with the advantages al- 
ready gained, the New Englanders dragged 
five of the forty-two pounders taken from 
the enemy over rough and rocky ground 
swept by the fire of the French artillery 
to the top of this hillock, where a fifth bat- 
tery, called the Northwest, was planted that 
proved most destructive to the fortress. 

The supreme independence to establish 
rules of strategy and warfare which their 
assailants displayed in these daring oper- 
ations astonished and bewildered the be- 
leaguered French no less than the ardor 
and energy they put into the work. 

The raw New Englanders made no at- 
tempt to protect their approach. Scorning 


216 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

the slower processes of entrenchments or 
zigzags, they took the shortest course to 
the point they wished to reach, trusting 
their lives to the cover afforded by the 
darkness of night or the obscurity of fog. 

That they had to pay the price of their 
recklessness was a matter of course. In 
the advanced battery, which Commander 
Pepperell placed in charge of Captain Sher- 
burn, Captain Pierce was presently killed 
by a cannon-ball, Thomas Ashe by a bomb, 
and others fell to French bullets. 

There were no patent elevating and dis- 
appearing carriages for the guns in those 
days, and in order to load them the men 
had to go out in front, under cover of a 
constant fire of musketry, which the enemy 
briskly returned not without effect, for 
their aim was all too good. A reckless 
New Englander, who in a spirit of bravado 
mounted the rampart, and stood there for 
a moment, paid for his folly by falling dead 
with five bullets in his body. 

Not content with exchanging bullets and 
cannon-balls, the antagonists jeered at each 


FROM PERIL TO PERIL. 217 

other in bad French or broken English, 
while the u Mounseers ” drank ironical 
healths to the colonials, and gave them 
bantering invitations to breakfast. 

As soon as the Pomeroy boys got over 
their injuries, they entered heartily into 
the lively adventurous life of the camp. 

Commander Pepperell ruled his men with 
a gentle hand, which was indeed well, for 
had he been a martinet, they would doubt- 
less have shown their free New England 
spirit either by frank disobedience or by 
withdrawing from the enterprise. 

The statement that not one New Eng- 
lander was disciplined during the siege, 
therefore, testified as much to the mild and 
conciliating character of the general as to 
the orderly conduct of the soldiers. 

There was no pretence of restraint re- 
quired when the men were off duty, and the 
caustic Dr. Douglas compared the state 
of things on and about the camp to “ a 
Cambridge Commencement/' which college 
festival was then distinguished by much 
rough jesting and boisterous horse-play, 


218 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

indulged in by the disorderly crowds, both 
white and black, bond and free, who 
swarmed among the booths on Cambridge 
Common. 

While the cannon bellowed, and the 
muskets cracked in front, fun and frolic 
reigned at the camp, where the men ran 
races, held wrestling matches, pitched 
quoits, fired at marks, although there was 
really not a pinch of powder to be wasted, 
and chased the French cannon-balls that 
rolled into their midst, carrying them off 
to the batteries to be returned to their 
senders. 

Nor were these their only amusements. 
“ Some of our men went a-fishing about 
two miles off,” wrote Lieutenant Ben- 
jamin Cleaves in his diary, “ caught six 
trouts ; ” and again, “ Our men went to 
catch lobsters: caught thirty.” 

Prince and Pickle soon joined the adven- 
turous fishermen. Not being required for 
service, and growing tired of the confine- 
ment of the camp and its rude sports, they 
were ready to listen to John Sparhawk, 


FROM PERIL TO PERIL. 219 

who, in spite of the rumors of prowling 
Indians alert to scalp and slay, had been 
amusing himself exploring the neighbor- 
hood, when he said one evening : — 

“ Let us go a-fishing to-morrow. I know 
where there is a good trout stream.” 

“ How far away ? inquired Prince, whose 
natural caution restrained him from the 
immediate assent that Pickle gave by clap- 
ping his hands gleefully and exclaiming : — 

“ Of course we ’ll go. It will be fine 
sport, and we are sick of staying about the 
camp.” 

“ It is not more than a couple of miles 
off,” answered Sparhawk. 

“ In which direction ? ” inquired Prince, 
while Pickle regarded him with an impa- 
tient look. 

“ Over that way,” replied Sparhawk, 
pointing inland. 

“ But what about the Indians ? ” per- 
sisted Prince. “They say that there are 
some of those red devils prowling around.” 

“ Who ’s afraid of them?” cried Pickle, 
swelling out his chest and looking his 


220 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

fiercest. “ They would not dare touch us 
if we kept together.” 

Sparhawk smiled at the boy’s bravado. 
He had also heard about Indians being 
seen in the neighborhood, and had deter- 
mined to go well armed on this fishing 
excursion. 

“ I don’t think we have anything to fear 
from them,” he said quietly. “We will 
all take our muskets, and have them ready 
for instant use if need be.” 

“Very well, then, we’ll go with you,” 
said Prince, “ and as we have not got mus- 
kets we will take our swords and pistols.” 

Bright and early next morning the fish- 
ing party set off. There were three others 
besides Sparhawk and the Pomeroys, and 
they took with them sufficient food for 
the day. 

Sparhawk led the way over the rough 
stony hills, the rattle of the musketry and 
the roar of the cannon growing fainter and 
fainter as they proceeded inland. 

They were all in the best of spirits. It 
was their first holiday since landing, and 


FROM PERIL TO PERIL. 221 

the day being bright, and the air balmy, 
they felt very much like a lot of schoolboys 
enjoying their first spring outing. 

Pickle was particularly frisky. The 
tedious process of investing the French 
fortress, and battering down its walls and 
bastions, was growing very monotonous to. 
him. He had hoped for more brilliant 
and exciting operations, for dare-devil 
attempts at escapades on their part, and 
furious sorties by the French. Were he 
only in General Pepperell’s place for a day 
he would take Louisbourg by storm, instead 
of waiting for its ramparts to be reduced 
to ruins. 

“ How much longer, I wonder, are we 
going to fool over the business ? ” he said 
to Sparhawk in a tone that showed he 
failed to entertain a proper amount of re- 
spect for the commander’s judgment. “ We 
might have taken the place long ago if we 
had gone the right way about it.” 

“ You had better ask General Pepperell 
to let you have his place for a while,” re- 
sponded Sparhawk dryly, whereat Pickle’s 


222 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

eyes flashed and his cheeks reddened, and 
a sharp retort was on his lips, when Spar- 
hawk, pointing into the ravine below them, 
called out : — 

“ There ’s my stream ! Does n’t it look 
promising ? ” 

It certainly did seem a good place for 
trout, being characterized by pools and 
shallows with dancing ripples between, and, 
eager to try their luck, the little party 
raced down to its banks. 

Their fishing tackle was of the most 
primitive kind, — spruce poles for rods, 
and worms for bait, — but the Cape Breton 
trout had not yet been educated to require 
any more elaborate equipment for their 
capture. 

Soon all six were hard at work whipping 
the stream, and presently a joyful exclama- 
tion from Prince told that he had got the 
first fish. 

Sparhawk landed another a moment 
later, and presently all the others save 
Pickle followed suit. 

His ill luck provoked him. He could 


FROM PERIL TO PERIL. 223 

not understand it, and at last, without say- 
ing a word, he went off up stream in the 
hope of having better success in that 
direction. 

Not finding at first just the kind of sport 
he sought, he kept on until he was com- 
pletely out of sight and hearing of the 
rest of the party, who were too deeply 
engrossed in their own fishing to observe 
his absence. 

At last he came to a pool that promised 
well, and was busy getting his rod in read- 
iness when, suddenly, without the slightest 
warning, and as silently as shadows, there 
sprang upon him two stalwart Indians, 
who, throwing him to the ground, gagged 
and bound him ere he could utter a cry 
for help, or make an effort to escape ! 


CHAPTER XVII. 


A PRISONER OF WAR. 

H AVING rendered their captive utterly 
helpless, the Indians now picked 
him up on their shoulders, and set off at a 
rapid pace for a clump of woods in the 
opposite direction to the New England 
camp. 

Pickle, realizing the futility of any strug- 
gle on his part, kept perfectly still, but his 
brain was busy with conjectures as to his 
fate, and keen regret at having separated 
himself from his friends. 

“ I suppose they T1 make me a prisoner 
of war,” he dolefully soliloquized, “ and 
keep me in a dungeon until the siege is 
over, or I can be exchanged for one of their 
own people that we have taken prisoner. 
These Indians surely won’t scalp me ; ” and 
his heart almost stopped beating at the 

















A PRISONER OF WAR. 225 

thought. “ That wouldn’t do them much 
good, and it would he the end of me. At 
all events, whatever they do, they’ll not 
find me showing the white feather ; I will 
take good care that they cannot boast of 
having frightened the life out of me.” 

Fortifying himself by the resolution, he 
lay passive in the Indians’ hands during a 
racking journey of nearly two miles across 
broken ground, which at last, to his immense 
relief, ended at a sort of glade in the woods 
where a number of other Indians were 
gathered. 

The appearance of the captive was greeted 
with many grunts of approval, and the two 
Indians showed manifest pride in their ex- 
ploit, although, considering how great were 
the odds in their favor, their carrying off 
Pickle was not in the least heroic. 

He was placed against a tree trunk in 
full view of the company, and his gag hav- 
ing been removed, an aged Indian, evi- 
dently the chief of the party, began to 
question him in a curious mixture of French 
and Malacite. 

*5 


226 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 


But Pickle, knowing nothing of either 
language, was as much at a loss to under- 
stand him as though he were speaking 
Hebrew, and although he gave him the 
closest attention, and strove hard to make 
out something from the old man’s expres- 
sion and gestures, his efforts were vain, and 
shaking his head, he replied : — 

“ I cannot understand a word you say ; 
I don’t know what language you are speak- 
ing. Cannot some of your people speak 
English?” 

The chief at first became more energetic 
in his words and motions, as though he were 
sure he could make himself understood if 
he tried hard enough ; but when Pickle per- 
sisted in shaking his head, and saying un- 
intelligible things in his turn, the old man 
grew angry. He seemed to think that the 
boy was making game of him, and, shaking 
his tomahawk threateningly, he reiterated 
his demands for information. 

At the first flourish of the murderous 
little weapon, Pickle involuntarily flinched. 
Then, straightening himself up, and setting 


A PRISONER OF WAR. 227 

his face firmly, he looked steadfastly at the 
chief as he responded : — 

“ I am not pretending. I do not under- 
stand a word you say, and perhaps I would 
not tell you what you want to know, even 
if I did understand you, hut there is no use 
in threatening me with that tomahawk.” 

Impressed by the boy's remarkable forti- 
tude, which indeed he could not help ad- 
miring, the chief lowered his tomahawk, 
and stepping aside a little way, called to him 
several others to consult with them. 

Pickle knew perfectly well that they 
were deliberating as to his fate, and that 
for him the issues of life and death were in 
the hands of those savages, yet his coun- 
tenance betrayed no fear nor anxiety. 

Seeming as composed as though he were 
in his own camp, instead of at the mercy 
of a savage enemy, he looked about him 
with well-simulated interest in his sur- 
roundings. 

Not even when a young Indian, who had 
not yet taken his first scalp, came over to 
him, and, grasping his thick curly hair, 


228 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

passed his knife around his head, making 
the motion of scalping, while his black eyes 
gleamed with cruel avidity, did Pickle 
blanch, although an icy chill shot down his 
spine, and for the moment he ceased to 
breathe. 

The consultation lasted some time ; it 
being evident that there was a decided 
difference of opinion among the members 
of the group, and Pickle's thought went 
back to the home in Boston which perhaps 
would never welcome him again. 

“ If my mother could see me now, how 
dreadfully frightened she would be ! ” he 
murmured, and for a moment his eyes 
brimmed and the resolute look left his face. 

But the next instant he pulled himself 
together, and strengthened his heart with 
the thought that if his father could see him 
he would have no reason to be ashamed of 
his son. 

At length, after a noisy and heated dis- 
cussion of the matter, the Indians evidently 
reached the conclusion to spare their cap- 
tive’s scalp for the present. 


A PRISONER OF WAR. 


229 


The veteran chief came up to him, knife 
in hand, not to bathe it in his blood, but 
to cut his bonds, saying something in a 
guttural tone which no doubt meant : — 

“ If you dare make any attempt to escape 
you will be instantly killed.” 

Believed at the respite, and glad to have 
his hands free once more, Pickle danced 
about and swung his arms, exclaiming: 

“ I ’m ever so much obliged to you, and 
I give you my word not to try to escape.” 

The Indians regarded him with amaze- 
ment. Stoical as they knew how to be in 
a similar plight, they could not understand 
the boy’s apparent light-heartedness when 
his life hung by a hair, so to speak. 

It not only compelled their respect for 
his courage, but somehow impressed them 
with the notion that he was no ordinary 
person, and that the French would be par- 
ticularly glad to get him as a prisoner. 

Putting him in the centre of their party, 
therefore, they set off for Louisbourg, follow- 
ing the route farthest away from the posi- 
tions already occupied by the colonial forces. 


230 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

Confident now that all danger of death 
at the hands of the red-men was over, and 
that from the French he would receive no 
worse treatment than was usually accorded 
prisoners of war, Pickle went along with a 
comparatively light heart, the relief from 
the intense strain of the preceding hour 
being so great that he positively broke out 
into whistling, thereby deepening the won- 
der of his captors, who had never met his 
like before. 

“ I suppose the Mounseers will be asking 
me all sorts of questions, and wanting me 
to tell them how big our army is, and how 
soon we expect to take the town But 
they’ll have to ask me in English, for I 
don’t understand any more of their lingo 
than I do of the Indians,” he soliloquized 
as he tramped along. 

It was well on in the afternoon when 
they reached one of the gates of Louis- 
bourg and were promptly admitted. 

After some delay and preliminary ques- 
tioning on the part of an officer at the gate, 
Pickle was taken before the commander of 


A PRISONER OF WAR. 


231 


the fortress, General Duchambon, who oc- 
cupied one of the few stone houses the 
town contained, the majority being of 
wood. 

On being ushered into the presence of 
the great inan, Pickle, by an inspiration of 
audacity that surprised himself whenever 
he recalled it, went right up to him, and, 
making a low bow, put out his hand, saying 
in the politest tone possible : — 

“ I have the honor to bid you good-day, 
sir. I am Sewall Pomeroy of Boston, at 
your service, sir.” 

The sensation produced by this superb 
bit of bravado may be readily imagined. 
It fairly took the Frenchmen’s breath away, 
and they gazed at Pickle as though he 
were some supernatural being that had 
suddenly appeared in their midst. 

The commander was the first to recover 
his self-possession, and, extending his hand 
across the table, at which he sat, he re- 
sponded with a fairly gracious smile, and 
in excellent English : — 

“ I beg to return your salutation, and to 


232 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

thank you for furnishing me with your 
name. I trust you will be no less ready 
to give me further information.” 

Pickle at once drew himself up, and 
closed his lips in a determined way that 
did not promise very well for the fulfilment 
of the speaker’s expectations. 

“ May I ask what is your rank ? ” was 
the next question. 

“I belong to the fife and drum corps, 
and I play the drum, while my brother 
plays the fife,” responded Pickle in a tone 
of manifest pride. 

“ Indeed ! ” exclaimed the commander 
with quickened interest. “ Possibly then 
it was your brother and yourself who 
played so bravely in front of the Grand 
Battery when our boats were seeking to 
retake it.” 

“It was, sir,” answered Pickle, acknowl- 
edging the compliment with a bow, while 
a murmur of admiration arose from the 
officers in the room. 

“ And how many more such gallant 
soldiers has General Pepperell under his 


A PRISONER OF WAR. 


233 


command ? ” asked Duchambon, concealing 
his wily purpose beneath an air of gracious 
appreciation. 

“ More than sufficient to capture Louis- 
bourg,” replied Pickle, who was not to be 
betrayed into giving precise information. 

Then ensued an hour’s ordeal of exam- 
ination, in which not only Duchambon, but 
his staff, exhausted their ingenuity in striv- 
ing to extract from Pickle particulars as to 
the strength, condition, and equipment of 
the New England army. 

But neither threats, taunts, nor clever 
traps availed. 

The Puritan strain in him prevented 
him from falsifying the true state of affairs 
as another less scrupulous might have done, 
while he was prepared to suffer anything 
rather than confess the really miserable 
plight of his own people, many hundreds 
of whom were prostrated with sickness 
due to their wretched quarters, and yet 
more were ragged and barefooted. 

At last, despairing of accomplishing his 
purpose, Duchambon angrily ordered Pickle 


234 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

to be removed, and confined in a dark cell 
until he should become more tractable. 

This direction being given in French, 
Pickle did not apprehend its significance 
until he found himself in a damp, doleful 
dungeon into which no ray of light entered. 

“ Surely you ’re not going to leave me 
here ! ” he cried indignantly to the guard. 
“ I ’m a prisoner of war, and you have no 
right to treat me like this.” 

But the French soldiers paid no heed to 
his passionate protests, which in truth they 
hardly understood, and after providing 
him with a bundle of straw for a couch, 
went away, taking care to securely bar the 
heavy door. 

Thus left alone in the appalling darkness, 
Pickle’s resolution, hitherto so nobly main- 
tained, at last broke down, and, prostrat- 
ing himself upon the straw, he gave way 
to the bitterest self-reproach. 

“What an idiot I was to leave the 
others ! ” he groaned. “ Those rascally 
Indians would never have dared to attack 
us all. They must have been just skulking 


A PRISONER OF WAR. 


235 


around, watching for the chance of some 
of us doing what I was fool enough to do. 
How anxious Prince must be ! Poor fellow ! 
he can’t have the slightest notion what’s 
become of me, and maybe he ’ll think I ’ve 
been killed and scalped by some of the red 
devils. Well, thank Heaven, it ’s not so 
bad as that with me yet, but God only 
knows what these Mounseers will do if 
they cannot get out of me what they want 
to know.” 

After a while the needs of his body be- 
gan to assert themselves, to the exclusion 
of his other troubles. He was both hungry 
and thirsty, neither bite nor sup having 
passed his lips since he left camp in the 
morning, and it was now about sundown. 

“ Surely they are not going to let me 
starve here,” he cried, rising to his feet, 
and feeling his way to the door, which, 
having found, he proceeded to beat against, 
first with his fists, and then, when they got 
sore, with his feet. 

But he might as well have been smiting 
the solid rock so far as eliciting any response 


236 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

was concerned. His cell was in the depths 
of the King’s Bastion, and no noise that he 
could make had any chance of reaching the 
guards, who were far above him. 

Wearying of these fruitless efforts, he 
crept back to his straw pallet, and sought 
to bury his misery in the oblivion of sleep. 

For some time he succeeded no better in 
this than he had in his attempt to attract 
attention, but at last, through sheer exhaus- 
tion of both body and mind, he fell into a 
a troubled slumber, from which, some hours 
later, he was suddenly awakened by the 
door being flung open and the glare of a 
torch filling the cell, its ruddy rays j making 
the damp walls glisten, and revealing more 
fully the utter dreariness of the place. 

Startled and dazed, Pickle sprang up, 
exclaiming : — 

“What’s the matter? What do you 
want ? ” 

A sinister looking soldier had entered, 
and without vouchsafing any reply in words, 
he motioned to Pickle to go before him. 

Much marvelling at this proceeding, for 


A PRISONER OF WAR. 


237 


he calculated it must be about midnight, 
Pickle obeyed, and when the door clanged 
to behind him, there sprang up in his heart 
the hope that he was not again to be 
immured in that hideous dungeon. 


CHAPTER XVIII. 


THE LOYE OF A BROTHER. 

HE guard having gone ahead after 



A closing the cell door, Pickle followed 
him up a long flight of steps, and through 
several corridors and chambers, until they 
came to one that was evidently the com- 
Blander’ s dining-room. 

In the centre stood a large table, more 
elegantly appointed as to linen, silverware, 
and glass than any Pickle had ever seen 
before, and, what impressed him even more 
in his starving condition, there was good 
store of meat, bread, and other viands 
daintily displayed, flanked by flagons of 
wine. 

His mouth watered and his stomach cried 
out at the sight. 

“Are they going to let me sit at that 
table ? ” he asked himself, as the savor of 
the good things filled his expanded nostrils. 


THE LOVE OF A BROTHER. 239 

“ I feel as if I could eat until morning. I 
was never so ravenous in all my life/’ 

Made reckless by his pangs, he advanced 
towards the table with the intention of tak- 
ing a piece of bread, but the guard roughly 
interposed, and, growling something unin- 
telligible, pushed him into a corner, where 
he evidently meant to keep him until 
further orders. 

Pickle was not familiar with the legend 
of Tantalus, or he would assuredly have com- 
pared himself to that mythical personage. 
It certainly was a cruel situation in which 
to place the boy. Yet, for full half an hour 
he had to stand there, eying the sorely 
needed food that he could not touch. 

Then a door at the end of the room 
opened, and a young officer appearing, 
gave the guard an order, which he obeyed 
by grasping Pickle’s arm and shoving him 
forward. 

The next moment Pickle was again in 
the presence of the French commander, 
and the same officers that had examined 
him previously. 


240 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

“ I have sent for you, my young man,” 
said Duchambon, in a courteous yet cold 
determined tone, “ with the expectation 
that having had time to reflect you have 
reached a wiser frame of mind, and are now 
prepared to answer the questions we would 
ask of you.” 

Pickle bowed, and then, lifting his head, 
fixed his clear honest eyes steadily upon the 
commander’s countenance, as he responded 
in a firm yet thoroughly respectful tone : 

“ I shall answer any questions, sir, that 
I think General Pepperell would not mind 
my answering, but more than that I will 
not do.” 

Duchambon’s dark eyes flashed, and he 
twisted his heavy moustache angrily. He 
had hoped to weaken his prisoner’s resolu- 
tion by tempting him with the sight of 
food when he knew he mtist be faint with 
hunger, and this unbroken resolution to 
reveal nothing irritated him exceedingly. 

He turned to the officer sitting beside 
him, a grizzled veteran, who had hitherto 
kept silence, although his piercing eyes had 


THE LOVE OF A BROTHER. 241 

been fixed upon Pickle from the time of his 
entrance into the room. 

As they both spoke in French, Pickle 
could make out nothing of the earnest con- 
sultation which took place, yet somehow he 
divined that the older man was interceding 
on his behalf. 

Presently Duchambon spoke to the other 
officers who were present, and they all 
took part in a discussion which lasted 
some ten minutes, poor Pickle vainly en- 
deavoring to catch something of its purport 
from the expressions and gestures of the 
speakers. 

At last they evidently reached a conclu- 
sion approved by all, and particularly by the 
veteran, whose grim smile seemed to say, 
“ They had to come round to my way in 
the end,” and whose glance, as it returned 
to Pickle, somehow sent a thrill of hope to 
his heart. 

Duchambon, the cloud of irritation not 
altogether vanished from his countenance, 
then bent his eyes upon Pickle, who bore 
their gaze unflinchingly. 

16 


242 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

“ Despite your refusal to answer our 
questions,” he said, “ we have decided not 
to take the severe measures with you that 
your obstinacy merits. Not only so, but in 
our leniency we will allow you the freedom 
of the fortress if you will give your word 
of honor to make no attempt to escape, 
or to hold communication with your own 
people.” 

Pickle’s heart gave a great throb of joy. 
This was far better treatment than he had 
dared to hope for, and he was quite ready 
to go on parole for the little while that the 
siege would yet be prolonged. 

He had no idea why his captors were 
showing him such leniency. It never oc- 
curred to him that it was because of the 
heroic stand he had taken, and the confi- 
dence in his own honor thereby created. 

“ I will gladly give you my word of 
honor not to try to escape, nor to send 
any word to my friends, sir,” he responded 
with his best bow. 

“Very well, then, you may consider 
yourself at liberty to go where you please 


THE LOYE OF A BROTHER. 243 

within the limits of the town,” said the 
commander ; “ and now, as I presume you 
would be the better for some food, you may 
return to the dining-room and appease your 
appetite 

With another bow Pickle withdrew, and 
the next minute was hard at work upon the 
meat and bread so bountifully provided. 

Never before had a meal seemed so de- 
licious. He ate until he could eat no more, 
and then, rising from the table with a vast 
sigh of content and a perceptibly tighter 
belt, he exclaimed : — 

“ There now ! that will do me for the 
present, and I cannot begin to express my 
thanks.” 

A soldier now appeared, and signing to 
him to follow, led him to a small room 
plainly but sufficiently furnished, which 
seemed a chamber in Paradise compared 
with the horrid dungeon. 

Indicating that this was Pickle’s bedroom 
he withdrew, leaving the boy alone to take 
the rest he so greatly needed, and which a 
few minutes later he was soundly enjoying. 


244 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

But how had it gone with Prince all this 
time? 

He was the first to notice his brother's 
disappearance, and, looking this way and 
that, he exclaimed in a tone of surprise : 

“ What ’s become of Pickle ? He was in 
sight but a moment ago.” 

His tone changed to one of anxiety 
when, after mounting the highest mound 
in the neighborhood, and surveying the 
country in every direction, he could discern 
no sign of the boy whatever. 

“ How extraordinary ! ” he cried. “ He 
seems to have vanished utterly. What 
could have become of him?” 

By this time all the rods had been 
dropped, and the whole party gathered 
about Prince with deeply concerned coun- 
tenances. 

The rumors of prowling Indians at once 
came to their minds, and they looked at 
one another significantly, each feeling re- 
luctant to be the first to express their ap- 
prehension of what might have happened. 

“ We must scour the country in search 


THE LOVE OF A BROTHER. 245 

of him,” Prince said, starting off in the 
expectation that the others would follow. 

But to his surprise and indignation they 
held back. 

“ Come along ! ” he cried. “ There ’s not 
a moment to lose.” 

Still they did not respond, and Sparhawk, 
who as organizer of the fishing party was 
in some sort its leader, said : — 

“It's no use, Prince. We haven’t the 
slightest notion in which direction to go, 
and for aught we know there may be a 
number of Indians skulking about, just 
watching for the chance to get at us. We 
had better hurry back to camp.” 

“ And leave Pickle to their hands ! ” 
screamed Prince. u Indeed I won’t if I have 
to hunt for him alone.” 

“ See here now, Prince,” answered Spar- 
hawk, whose reasoning was sound enough. 
“ what ’s the use of your talking that way ? 
You can’t do anything but be captured 
yourself, and we ’re not a strong enough 
party to face a band of Indians. They ’ll 
doubtless take your brother to Louisbourg, 


246 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

and hand him over to the Mounseers, who ’ll 
keep him to exchange him for some of our 
prisoners. That ’s the way it ’s always 
done in war.” 

Seeing that he stood alone, and realizing 
the impossibility of his accomplishing any- 
thing single-handed, Prince let his head 
drop upon his breast, and gave himself up 
to the most harrowing thoughts in spite of 
the well-meant efforts of the others to cheer 
him. 

His distress was all the more poignant 
because he somehow felt himself to have 
been at fault in losing sight of Pickle, under 
the circumstances. 

The sense of responsibility for his reck- 
less brother, which was as deep as though 
he were five years his senior, came crush- 
ingly upon him, and he asked himself how 
he could ever return to the home in Boston 
without Pickle. 

Sparhawk’s growing nervousness could 
now no longer be restrained, and, grasping 
Prince’s arm, he said in a half-entreating, 
half-commanding tone : — 


THE LOVE OF A BROTHER. 247 

“ We must start back instanter. Every 
minute we stay increases our danger. 
Don’t worry about your brother. They ’ll 
take him to Louisbourg all right.” 

Reluctantly Prince obeyed. He was 
loath to leave the spot where he had last 
seen his brother, and yet what was to be 
gained by lingering ? So he turned his 
face campward with a heart heavy as lead, 
and the tears striving hard to force their 
way out upon his cheeks. 

They reached the camp without inter- 
ference, and Prince, at once seeking out 
General Pepperell, told him of his brother’s 
disappearance. 

“ Ah, I ’m afraid that ’s the work of those 
skulking red devils,” said the commander, 
looking very grave, and laying his hand 
sympathetically upon Prince’s shoulder. 
“ God grant that they have taken your 
brother to Louisbourg, where he will be 
treated as a prisoner of war. You may 
rely upon my doing all I can to ascertain 
if that be so, and to effect an exchange for 
him at the earliest opportunity.” 


248 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

Having expressed his gratitude for the 
promise, Prince withdrew with a somewhat 
lightened heart, resolved to take the most 
hopeful view of his brother’s fate. 

The attack upon the French fortress was 
now being continued with increasing vigor, 
and so sanguine of success were its besiegers 
that on the seventh of May a summons 
to surrender was sent Duchambon, who 
haughtily replied that he would answer it 
with his cannon. 

Whereat the New Englanders were 
greatly provoked, as the following start- 
ling entry in the minutes of the council of 
war shows : “ Advised unanimously that 
the Town of Louisbourg be attacked by 
Storm this Night.” 

Seeing that as yet no breach had been 
made in the walls, nor indeed the beginning 
of one, that nine out of ten men had no bayo- 
nets, that many were barefoot, and that the 
scaling-ladders brought from Boston were 
quite ten feet too short, while, on the other 
hand, the French, with much justification, 
were so confident in the strength of their 


THE LOVE OF A BROTHER. 249 

fortifications that they boasted their women 
alone could defend them, — in view of all 
this it was fortunate that the rank and file 
of the colonial force had cooler heads than 
their superior officers, and made their views 
so clearly understood that another council 
was held on the same day, at which it was, 
after much discussion, “ Advised that inas- 
much as there appears a great Dissatisfac- 
tion in many of the officers and soldiers at 
the designed attack of the Town by Storm 
this night, the said attack be deferred for 
the present.” 

No sooner, however, was this wild design 
thus shelved than another, hardly less reck- 
less, found general favor, — to wit, the tak- 
ing of the Island Battery, which closed the 
entrance of the harbor to the British Squad- 
ron on the watch outside, but kept it open 
to ships from France, should any such be 
able to run the gauntlet of the blockade. 

Nobody knew precisely how to find the 
two landing-places of this formidable 
battery, which were narrow gaps between 
rocks almost constantly lashed by surf $ but 


250 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

the sanguine, self-confident Vaughan could 
see no difficulties, and sent word to General 
Pepperell that if he could give him the 
command, and leave him to manage the 
attack in his own way, he would engage to 
send the French flag to headquarters within 
forty-eight hours. 

In spite of this cocksureness, the attempt 
was delayed on account of the weather, and 
through other causes, until the twenty- 
sixth of the month, and then it was not 
Vaughan who had command, but Captain 
Brooke of New Hampshire, chosen by the 
men themselves in the free and easy way 
that characterized the whole astonishing 
enterprise. 

The start was made from the Grand 
Battery in whale-boats propelled by pad- 
dles, as being less noisy than oars. Four 
hundred men comprised the party, and they 
set off at midnight, hoping to take the 
French garrison by surprise. 

Prince, who could scarce eat or sleep 
through worry about Pickle, was among 
the volunteers for this desperate venture. 


THE LOYE OF A BROTHER. 251 

He went because in the excitement of it he 
would for a time forget the anxiety that 
bore so heavily upon him. 

The night was still and dark, and the 
boats moved through the water with no 
sound save the soft swish of the paddles 
inaudible a short distance away. 

Every heart beat high with hope. The 
capture of the Island Battery meant the 
opening of the harbor to the British ships, 
and with them once safely inside, the sur- 
render of the stronghold could not be long 
delayed. 


CHAPTER XIX. 


THE ATTACK ON THE ISLAND BATTERY. 

S already mentioned, there were only 



jL two places on the island where boats 
could land. On the west end was a nar- 
row beach practicable for not more than 
three boats at a time, and commanded by 
the western face of the battery, while at 
the northeast, through the midst of sharp 
and slippery rocks, ran a narrow passage 
accessible only in the smoothest weather. 

The battery held a garrison of two hun- 
dred men, part of whom were Swiss, and 
rare good fighters, so that although the 
New Englanders had the advantage as to 
numbers, every other circumstance was in 
favor of the enemy. 

Not only so, but while the flotilla moved 
slowly to the attack, the wind, hitherto 
asleep, unexpectedly awakened, and began 
to blow freshly. 


ATTACK ON THE ISLAND BATTERY. 253 

“ We shall have trouble in landing,” 
said Captain Brooke, shaking his head 
gravely. “I had hoped the wind would 
hold off until daybreak.” 

Instead of doing this it grew steadily 
stronger, and by the time the boats were 
off the Island, the surf was breaking sav- 
agely upon its jagged rocks and seeming 
to say : — 

“ Avaunt, you rash New Englanders ! 
You shall not set foot here if I can prevent 
you” 

Prince was in one of the hindmost boats, 
which would have to wait its turn to reach 
the landing-place, and had perforce to put 
a curb upon his eagerness to be in the 
thick of the excitement. 

Now this Island Battery was a strong 
work walled in on all sides, and mounting 
no less than thirty cannon, seven swivels, 
and two mortars. The only hope, therefore, 
of the assailants lay in taking the garrison 
by surprise, and scaling the walls ere they 
could rally to their defence. 

Only the western landing-place was prac- 


254 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

ticable, the rising of the wind having 
rendered it impossible to do anything at 
the other, and so the crowd of boats 
gathered before this bit of beach, waiting 
their turn to reach it. 

Keeping remarkably quiet, — for they 
were very prone to noise, — the leading 
boats pushed their way ashore, and the 
men sprang out until about a hundred and 
fifty had landed. 

Still the battery stood wrapped in silence, 
and the prospect for the carrying out of 
the audacious enterprise seemed excellent, 
when, moved by a spirit of senseless bra- 
vado, those already on shore burst into 
three cheers ere Captain Brooke could 
restrain them. 

“ For God's sake, men, keep silence ! ” 
he cried, in passionate protest against this 
act of supreme folly. 

But it was too late. Captain D'Aillebout, 
the French commandant, had been on the 
watch, pacing the battery platform. Yet 
owing to the ceaseless noise of the surf, 
and the darkness of the night, he had 


ATTACK OK THE ISLAND BATTERY. 255 

caught neither sound nor sight of the 
assailants. 

The moment this insane round of cheer 
broke on his ears, however, he understood 
the situation, and ere the witless shouters 
recovered their breath, the battery “ blazed 
with cannon, swivels, and small arms,” as 
one of the survivors of the assault relates. 

Through the gloom the group of boats 
lying off the landing, waiting their turn to 
go in, was just sufficiently visible to guide 
the gunners, and at once they became the 
target for volleys of grape-shot, langrage- 
shot, and musket balls which did deadly 
work upon them. 

Many of the boats were shattered and 
sunk by the fire, and the rest, including 
the one in which Prince had a place, realiz- 
ing the futility of the enterprise, sheered 
sullenly off out of range, leaving the others 
to the mercy of the enemy. 

Thus the affair was soon reduced to an 
exchange of shots between the garrison 
and the New Englanders on shore, who, 
having to stand on the open ground with- 


256 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

out the walls (for their gallant attempts at 
scaling them came to naught, although 
they succeeded in putting twelve scaling- 
ladders in position) presented an easy mark 
to the French musketeers safely hidden 
behind the ramparts. 

Yet so stubborn was their spirit, and 
desperate their courage, that they actually 
maintained this unequal and costly conflict 
until daybreak, and then, seeing themselves 
wholly at the mercy of the French, sur- 
rendered to the number of one hundred and 
twenty in all. 

The English loss in killed, drowned, and 
captured reached nearly two hundred, or 
about one-half the attacking party, and 
this disastrous termination to a venture of 
which so much had been expected plunged 
the colonial camp into profound gloom. 

It was the New Englanders’ first reverse, 
and they felt the blow all the more. For 
a time their faith in the divine nature of 
their undertaking was shaken. 

“ Surely,” they argued, “ if we be doing 
God’s work in thus seeking to beat down a 


ATTACK ON THE ISLAND BATTERY. 257 

stronghold of Antichrist, His providence 
should have protected us.” 

And it needed all the fiery eloquence of 
Parson Moody, and a fresh flourishing of 
the shining axe wherewith he proposed to 
hew down the altars of Popery, to revive 
their zeal, and stimulate them to further 
effort. 

On the other hand, the French went wild 
with joy. This was their first success, and 
they certainly made the most of it. 

When day dawned, Louisbourg rang with 
shouts of triumph, and the ramparts were 
crowded with men, women, and children 
hurling taunts at their foiled foe. 

In the reports of the affair made to the 
home authorities Duchambon, determined 
to get all the credit possible, stated that the 
battery was attacked by one thousand men, 
supported by eight hundred more, who 
were afraid to show themselves, and further, 
that there were thirty-five boats in the flo- 
tilla, all of which were destroyed or sunk. 
But Bigot, with more regard for the truth, 
puts the number of the assailants at five 
17 


258 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

hundred, of whom, however, he claims that 
all perished save the one hundred and 
nineteen who were captured 

Into the midst of their rejoicings now 
came news of a disaster that went far to 
send them back to despondency. 

One fine morning a fierce cannonade was 
heard at sea, and presently a large French 
ship of war was seen hotly engaged with 
several vessels of the British blockading 
squadron. 

The fight was watched with intense in- 
terest by the New Englanders, but was not 
visible from Louisbourg. 

The French ship made a gallant resist- 
ance, but, being beset on all sides, struck 
her colors after a loss of eighty men. 

She proved to be the ship of the line 
“ Vigilant,” a splendid vessel, carrying 
sixty-four guns and nearly six hundred 
men, and commanded by no less a person- 
age than the Marquis de la Maisonfort. 

She had come from France heavily laden 
with munitions and stores for Louisbourg, 
and on approaching the land had encoun- 


ATTACK ON THE ISLAND BATTERY. 259 

tered one of the colonial cruisers. Being 
no match for her towering opponent, the 
latter, keeping up a running fight, clev- 
erly led her toward the British fleet, and 
thereby entitled herself to a good share of 
the credit of the capture. 

Nothing could have been more timely 
for the New Englanders than the addition 
to their supplies thus unwillingly made by 
the enemy, for the stock of provisions and 
ammunition had sunk perilously low, and 
the expected replenishing from Boston had 
been unaccountably delayed. 

When word reached Louisbourg of this, 
the songs of triumph were exchanged for 
groans of grief, and the Habitant de Louis- 
bourg put this sad entry in his diary : 
“ We were victims devoted to appease the 
wrath of Heaven, which turned our own 
arms into weapons for our enemies. ,, 

Roused by Parson Moody’s burning words, 
the New Englanders now addressed them- 
selves to the reduction of the Island Battery 
in another way, for all thought of taking it 
by storm was abandoned. 


260 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURQ. 

On the eastern side of the harbor’s mouth, 
a short half-mile distant from the Island, a 
rocky point projected into the sea, known 
as Lighthouse Point, which had not been 
occupied by the French, probably because 
the shore was so jagged and inhospit- 
able that they took it for granted no land- 
ing could be effected there. This point 
the colonials next made the centre of 
operations. 

With infinite pains and labor, cannon 
and mortar were carried in boats to the 
nearest landing-place, hauled up a steep 
cliff, and dragged a mile and a quarter to 
the chosen spot, where they were planted 
successfully, and soon opened fire upon the 
battery with destructive effect. 

While all this was happening, Pickle had 
been making himself at home in Louisbourg. 

Duchambon, feeling quite confident that 
one who showed such fidelity to his own 
party in the face of danger could be trusted 
to keep his parole no less faithfully, al- 
lowed him entire liberty, and he roamed 
about the place freely, exciting much inter- 


ATTACK ON THE ISLAND BATTERY. 261 

est among the women and children who 
thought the good-looking young “ Bas- 
tonnais ” very different from the dreadful 
creatures they had been led to imagine 
their besiegers were. 

Pickle’s heart was moved to sincere pity 
by the discomforts the unfortunate inhabi- 
tants of the beleaguered town had to endure. 

So heavy and unsparing was the New 
England bombardment that hardly one of 
the houses could be safely dwelt in, and the 
families were compelled to find refuge in 
the damp dark casements, where the chil- 
dren soon sickened, and the anxious moth- 
ers could not properly care for them. 

Gladly would Pickle have lightened their 
misery had it been in his power. It was 
not against them the colonial forces were 
waging war, yet they had to suffer just as 
if they were responsible. 

When he heard of the failure of the 
attempt upon the Island Battery, he was 
filled with concern. 

“ I wonder if Prince was in one of the 
boats,” he said to himself, looking across the 


262 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

harbor to where the battery stood, so grim 
and apparently impregnable. “ I must ask 
some of those who were taken prisoners.” 

Accordingly, when the prisoners were 
brought over to Louisbourg, he was ready 
to meet them at the gate. 

At first the officer at the gate refused to 
allow him to have speech with them, but 
on his appealing to Duchambon, permission 
was granted. 

By a strange coincidence, the first one 
he recognized in the ill-starred company 
was the same Sparhawk with whom he had 
gone on that trout-fishing expedition. 

“ Why, Sparhawk, is that you ? ” he ex- 
claimed, running up to him eagerly. “ You 
are just the one to tell me what I want to 
know.” 

Sparhawk, who had been walking along 
with bowed head and dejected mien, for he 
felt keenly his being a prisoner, on hear- 
ing the familiar voice, looked up with a 
wondering expression, as though to say : — 

“ Can I believe my ears ? Is that really . 
Pickle Pomeroy’s voice ? ” 


ATTACK ON THE ISLAND BATTERY. 263 

Pickle, divining the state of the case, 
caught him by the arm, crying in his ear : 

“ Yes, it is I. It is Pickle, as sound as 
a drum, and with my scalp still on. But 
tell me, was my brother with you when 
you tried to take the Island Battery ? ” 

Had Sparhawk possessed any skill in 
devising an evasive answer, he would cer- 
tainly have exercised it then. 

But he was a plain blunt fellow, who 
could conceal nothing, and when Pickle 
fixed his eyes eagerly upon his face, he 
was fain to blurt out: — 

“ Yes, he was in one of the boats, and the 
Lord only knows what became of him.” 

Pickle shrank away from him, and put 
his hands up to his face to hide the tears 
that filled his eyes. 

Poor Prince ! Had he indeed fallen a 
victim to a French bullet, or been drowned 
in the pitiless surf when a cannon-ball 
splintered the boat beneath him ? 

Never before that moment did Pickle 
realize how he loved his brother. 

“ How can I go back home without 


264 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

him ! ” he cried to himself. “ Oh, why 
did we ever come here ! It will surely 
break mother’s heart when she knows that 
she will never see Prince again.” 

Thus were the twin brothers mourning 
because they each feared the other dead, 
and looking forward with anxiety and 
apprehension to the time when the knowl- 
edge of what they supposed had happened 
would reach the home in Boston. 


CHAPTER XX. 


A VOLUNTARY PRISONER. 

S each day passed Prince’s concern with 



1 . V regard to the fate of his brother 
grew more intense, until at last it became 
unendurable, and there formed in his mind 
a resolution so rash and strange as to seem 
more like a conception of Pickle’s than of 
his own. 

This was nothing more or less than to 
allow himself to be taken prisoner by the 
French in order that he might thus gain an 
entrance into Louisbourg, and learn if Pickle 
had escaped the tomahawk and scalping 
knife of the Indians, and was still alive, 
although a prisoner. 

How to carry out this plan without los- 
ing his life was a problem that puzzled him 
greatly. It is true there were from time 
to time sorties on the part of the French, 


266 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

and counter attacks by the New Englanders, 
in which prisoners were taken on both sides. 

Thus, when Gorham’s regiment first 
took part at Lighthouse Point, Duchambon 
thought the movement so threatening that 
he sent a hundred men under the Sieur de 
Beaubaison to drive the invaders away. 

Beaubaison landed at a place called 
Lorembec, and advanced to surprise the 
English detachment, but was discovered 
by an outpost of forty men, who promptly 
attacked and routed his party. 

Being then joined by a number of Indians, 
he ventured several other skirmishes with 
English scouting-parties, until at last he was 
severely wounded himself, and, finding the 
enemy too strong for him, made his way 
back to Louisbourg by boat, leaving many 
of his men behind as prisoners. 

Again the Sieur de la Valliere, with a 
considerable party of men, tried to burn 
Pepperell’s storehouses near Flat Point 
Cove, but the only result was the capture 
of a dozen of his party, and the wounding 
of nearly all the others. 


A VOLUNTARY PRISONER. 267 

On the other hand the New Englanders 
had their losses also. A score of them 
were waylaid and surrounded near Petit 
Lorembec by twice as many Indians and 
French. They defended themselves gal- 
lantly, in spite of the disadvantages of their 
position, but the most of them were shot 
down, and the rest surrendered on promise 
of their lives being spared. 

But, alas ! their trust in the magnanimity 
of their antagonists was sadly betrayed. 
The red-men, with the tacit approval of the 
French, shot and speared many of them in 
cold blood, while others they fiendishly 
tortured, until not a single member of the 
party was left alive. 

This abominable outrage aroused the 
deepest indignation and wrath in the New 
England camp. The French prisoners had 
been well treated by them, and there was 
no palliation whatever for such an atrocity. 

Reprisals in kind were loudly clamored 
for, but the wise Commodore Warren be- 
thought himself of a better way. 

Among the prisoners on board his ship 


268 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

was the Marquis de la Maisonfort, late 
captain of the captured “ Vigilant.” This 
nobleman was requested to write a letter 
to Duchambon, telling with what considera- 
tion he and his fellow-prisoners were being 
treated, and suggesting that the same 
treatment should be shown to the English 
prisoners. 

Captain Macdonald of the marines carried 
this letter to the French commander under 
a flag of truce, and elicited the reply that 
the Indians alone were responsible for the 
cruelties in question, and that he would 
forbid such conduct in the future. 

Now Prince was perfectly informed as to 
the danger he ran in carrying out his plan, 
but this did not shake his resolution. 

“ It ’s a great risk, I know,” he said to 
himself, the gravity of his countenance 
showing how fully he realized it ; “ yet I 
shall take it. I cannot bear this uncer- 
tainty any longer. If I can only find 
out that Pickle is still alive and well, 
I shall not mind anything else. They 
can’t keep us prisoners long anyway, for 


A VOLUNTARY PRISONER. 269 

the town is sure to be taken inside of a 
month.” 

He kept his purpose to himself, as he 
knew quite well that whoever heard of it 
would do his best to dissuade him from 
it. 

The first point to be settled was the 
time for action. To go in broad daylight 
would expose him to the suspicion of act- 
ing either as a spy or a deserter, while at 
night he might be shot or bayoneted by 
the sentinels before he had a chance to 
give explanations. 

After weighing the matter thoroughly, 
as was his wont in affairs of importance, 
he decided to make his venture at night. 

“ There won’t be any Indians about 
then,” he rightly reasoned, for he knew 
enough of the savages to understand that 
they always kept close to their camp-fires 
during the hours of darkness, “ and when 
I reach the French guards I ’ll manage to 
make myself understood somehow.” 

It was approaching midnight when he 
set off, his heart throbbing furiously, and 


270 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

his mouth parched with the intense excite- 
ment that possessed him. 

He had first to evade the sentinels posted 
about his own camp, for, since rumors had 
been flying around to the effect that a large 
force of French and Indians under Marin 
were returning from the unsuccessful attack 
upon Annapolis to assist their friends in 
Louisbourg, there had been a great change 
for the better in the discipline of the 
colonial camp. 

Under the pressure of fear of Marin’s 
force, whose strength had been greatly 
exaggerated, military order was promptly 
established, the tents were fenced with 
palisades, and watched by sentinels and 
scouting parties. 

Now Prince knew that if he encountered 
any of these they would certainly stop 
him, and probably order him back to his 
hut. He therefore exercised as much 
strategy and caution in getting out of his 
own camp as though he were getting into 
the camp of the enemy. 

He took with him his pistol and cutlass, 


A VOLUNTARY PRISONER. 271 

for although he had no idea of offering 
fight if challenged by the French sentinels, 
he thought it best to be able to show his 
teeth in the case of an emergency. 

Slipping noiselessly along through the 
lines of tents and huts in which so many 
hundreds of his fellow-soldiers were enjoy- 
ing their well-earned rest, he reached the 
outskirts of the camp without being ob- 
served by any one. 

It was a moonless night, but the stars 
shone out clearly, and there was sufficient 
light to render any one visible a score of 
yards distant. As the sentinels were posted 
about one hundred yards apart, and walked 
their beats so as to meet every few min- 
utes, it was necessary for Prince to choose 
that time for passing through them. 

Hiding in the shadow of the palisades, 
he listened to the men on guard tramping 
steadily to and fro, and mitigating the 
monotony of their employment by hum- 
ming snatches of Puritan hymns. 

“They have nothing in particular to 
worry them,” lie thought with a sigh of 


272 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

envy. “ Oh, how I wish I knew how it is 
with Pickle ! Surely he cannot be dead ! 
That seems too dreadful/' 

Waiting until the two nearest sentinels 
had reached the far end of their beat, 
Prince pressed forward, bending low, and 
moving with almost as little noise as 
though he were an Indian. 

He would have succeeded in getting 
through the line without the guards hav- 
ing any suspicion of his proximity had 
not an unseen stone caught his foot, and 
flung him headlong, his cutlass clattering 
noisily as he fell. 

Instantly there was a shout of “Who 
goes there ? ” and the clicking of a musket 
being got ready to fire. 

Prince’s first thought was to lie per- 
fectly still, trusting that he would not be 
found in the darkness, and could slip away 
as soon as the alarm was subsided. 

But his keen ear caught the footfalls of 
other sentinels hurrying up, and he realized 
that his only chance was to make a dash 
out into the country. 


A VOLUNTARY PRISONER. 273 

Gathering himself together, therefore, he 
darted off over the uneven ground, risking 
a cropper at every stride, yet somehow 
managing to keep afoot. 

The excited shouts of the sentries fol- 
lowed him, and so did the bullets they 
hastily fired in the direction of the sound 
of his steps ; but he heeded not the shouts, 
and the bullets happily went wide of him, 
so that he got away unscathed, though very 
much out of breath. 

“ Thank Heaven - — that ’s over ! ” he 
panted, when he felt it safe to halt. “ I 
was terribly afraid they ’d hit me, but 
they could n’t see me plain enough. I 
wonder shall I have to stand fire in the 
same way before I get into Louisbourg.” 

He had a good space of rough country 
to cross before coming to the outer range 
of the fortifications of Louisbourg, and the 
difficulty of seeing his way made it neces- 
sary for him to proceed slowly. 

Even then he stumbled several times, 
bruising his shins badly, and narrowly 
escaping a sprained ankle., which would 
18 


274 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

have put him in a very awkward 
plight. 

Having reached the glacis at that part 
of the defences which fronted the King’s 
Bastion, he lay still for a while, listening 
to the sentinels pacing the inner ramparts 
and exchanging their calls. 

After a good rest, for the passage across 
the rough ground had been very tiring, he 
cautiously began the ascent of the glacis. 

In this he had little difficulty, the face 
being of heavy stone-work, which afforded 
excellent hold for his hands and feet. 
But he was in constant danger of being 
discovered and fired upon by the sentries, 
whose forms as they moved to and fro 
were quite visible to him. 

“ It ’s a wonder they don’t see me when 
I can see them so plainly,” he muttered, 
feeling profoundly thankful, however, that 
such was the case. 

Indeed, had the French soldiers been 
a little more on the qui vive they could 
hardly have failed to descry the dark form 
of the boy outlined upon the gray face of 


A VOLUNTARY PRISONER. 275 

the glacis. But the night was absolutely 
still, save for the muffled boom of the surf 
on the other side of the town. No hint of 
danger kept them on the alert, and they 
sleepily did their “ sentry-go,” each one 
longing for the hour of his relief, when he 
should be able to tumble into the bed for 
which he now hankered. 

The glacis sloped up many feet, and 
ended in a narrow platform beyond which 
was the fosse, — a broad deep ditch that 
lay between the outer and inner line of 
fortification. 

Into this ditch Prince had to descend, 
and to accomplish it noiselessly was a 
problem that puzzled him, the drop being 
full fifteen feet. 

He thought of letting himself be seen by 
the sentries on the ramparts, and shouting 
out his surrender in the hopes of some of 
them knowing enough English to under- 
stand what he said. 

But, on reflection, the risk of being shot 
first and questioned afterwards seemed too 
great, and he deemed it best to try the ditch. 


276 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

Crawling along the platform on his 
stomach, — for he did not dare stand erect, 
as then the sleepiest of the sentinels could 
hardly have failed to discover him, — he 
sought an angle of the wall where the 
shadows were darkest, and began the 
descent. 

The masonry having a rough finish on 
the inside wall, afforded him a precarious 
hold, which he managed to maintain until 
he was nearly half-way down, and then, 
his feet slipping from a rounded projection, 
he fell the remainder of the distance. 

Fortunately the ditch held nothing 
harder than half-dried mud, into which 
Prince dropped with a soft thud, that was, 
nevertheless, loud enough to arouse the 
suspicions of the sentry on duty nearest the 
spot. 

“ Qui va la?” he demanded, pointing 
his musket in the direction of the sound. 

Prince lay as still as a log, while other 
sentries hurried up, and joined with the 
first in peering eagerly into the darkness 
of the moat. 


A VOLUNTARY PRISONER. 277 

They chattered together excitedly for a 
moment, and then, at the suggestion of one 
of their number, levelled their guns and 
fired a volley into the corner where Prince 
grovelled in the mud. 

The bullets flattened upon the stones a 
few inches above him, sending a shiver 
down his spine, but happily all went too 
high to touch him. 

Yet he dare not risk the second volley, 
for which the soldiers were already reload- 
ing, and, rising to his feet, he showed him- 
self to the sentries, crying out : — 

“ Don’t fire again ! I am your prisoner ; 
come and take me ! ” 

So startled were the Frenchmen by his 
sudden approach that in their confusion 
they were about to give the poor defence- 
less fellow another volley, when the officer 
of the guard came running up to learn the 
cause of the uproar, and they paused to 
answer him. 

On Prince being pointed out to him, he 
bent over the parapet, calling out in French : 

“ Who are you ? What do you there ? ” 


278 FIFE AND DltUM AT LOUISBOUKG. 

Prince, guided by the tone rather than by 
the language, of which he understood not a 
word, moved a little nearer, and holding up 
his hands to show that they held no weapon 
replied : — 

“ I am your prisoner ; I want to be taken 
inside.” 

It chanced that this officer had himself 
at one time been a prisoner in English 
hands, and had acquired some knowledge 
of the tongue. He accordingly understood 
what Prince said, and, though very much 
puzzled as to what it all meant, commanded 
his men to lower their muskets, and detailed 
two of them to go down into the moat, and 
conduct Prince to the guardroom, where he 
could be duly examined. 


CHAPTER XXI. 


THE FALL OF THE FORTRESS. 

N Prince being brought before the 



officer of the guard, the latter, after 
one searching glance at him, exclaimed : — 

“ Parbleau ! but you are the young Bas- 
tonnais that the Indians brought in a few 
days ago, and you have been trying to 
make your escape, eh? It may be that 
you do not understand the obligations of 
parole.” 

The last sentence was uttered in a sharp, 
sneering tone, and although Prince could 
not fully catch the purport of the officers 
words, or grasp the reason for the sneer, 
he understood enough to be assured of 
Pickle’s being still alive. 

“No, no, I am not he! ” he cried, catch- 
ing the officer’s arm, and looking up into 
his face with an expression of passionate 


280 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

eagerness. “ But I am his brother, and is 
he safe ? and is he here ? God be thanked ! 
I feared that he might have been killed.’ ’ 

Evidently much impressed by Prince’s 
excited utterance, the officer drew him 
more into the light, and scrutinized him 
closely. 

Despite his bedraggled condition, his 
likeness to Pickle certainly showed out amaz- 
ingly, and after many a shrug and puzzled 
grimace, the officer, deciding to leave the 
conundrum for solution in the morning, 
bade Prince lie down, and rest for the 
present. 

Wearied by the exertions and excitement 
of the night, Prince was only too glad to 
obey, but he found it impossible to close 
his eyes. 

The idea that his beloved brother had 
escaped the scalping-knives of the red-men, 
and was no doubt sleeping soundly not far 
away, thrilled him with joy, and with im- 
patience to greet him. 

“ Won’t he be surprised to see me!” 
he chuckled, u and what a fool he ’ll think 


THE FALL OF THE FORTRESS. 281 

me for doing this ! He ’ll have a chance to 
scold me now for being reckless. But I 
could not stand the dreadful anxiety about 
him, and now that I know he ’s safe and 
sound, I don’t care how long we ’re pris- 
oners here.” 

In the morning, Prince was allowed to 
make a sort of toilet ere being taken before 
Duchambon. No sooner did the comman- 
der’s eye fall upon him than he started 
and exclaimed : — 

“ The young Bastonnais ! What has he 
been doing ? Not attempting to escape ? ” 
For Pickle had so impressed him by his 
perfect frankness and honesty that it was 
quite a shock to him to find him guilty of 
dishonorable conduct. 

But the officer smiled and shook his 
head. 

“ So I thought, sir, when I saw him first. 
He says, however, that it is not he, but 
his brother. Will you send, sir, for the 
other?” 

A soldier was accordingly at once de- 
spatched to bring Pickle. 


282 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

Pickle saw Prince the minute he entered 
the door, and with a cry strangely com- 
pounded of gladness and sympathy of, 
“ Prince ! Are you too a prisoner ? ” he 
darted across the room, and flung his arms 
about his brother’s neck, giving him a hug 
worthy of a bear. 

The grave Duchambon could not forbear 
breaking into laughter, and his example 
was followed by his subordinates, for, 
utterly oblivious of their presence, the 
twins, holding one another’s hands as if 
they feared being parted, peppered each 
other with questions that neither took time 
to properly answer. 

At last the commander interposed. He 
too had some questions to ask, and having 
secured Prince’s attention, he interrogated 
him as to how he had got within the walls, 
and what his object was in doing it. There 
was such transparent honesty in his replies 
that not one who heard him felt inclined 
to doubt their absolute truth, and when his 
story was told, the French officers had 
gained a higher conception of the courage 


THE FALL OF THE FORTRESS. 283 

and devotion of their antagonists whose 
very boys were capable of such heroism. 

“ I will put you on parole as I have done 
your brother,” said Duchambon, when the 
examination was over, “ and I trust you 
will have no cause to complain of our treat- 
ment of you while you are our prisoners.” 

Prince thanked him warmly, and the 
boys being thus practically left to them- 
selves, Pickle took his brother off to show 
him the town. 

It was in truth a pitiable sight. Of all 
the snug, comfortable homes the walls had 
enclosed, only a single one stood untouched 
by shot or shell, and for some time previ- 
ous nobody had dared to rest elsewhere 
than in the stifling casemates. 

While Gridley’s bombs on Lighthouse 
Point were dropping shells into the Island 
Battery with such precision that the fright- 
ened French soldiers could sometimes be 
seen bolting for the water to escape the 
explosions, the colonial batteries on the 
land side were pushing their work of de- 
struction with relentless activity, until 


284 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

walls and bastions crumbled under their 
fire. 

The French had labored with laudable 
energy under cover of night to repair the 
mischief. The shattered West Gate they 
closed with a wall of stone and earth 
twenty feet thick, and they made an 
earthen epaulement to protect what was 
left of the formidable circular battery — all 
but three of whose sixteen guns had been 
dismounted. They stopped the throat of 
the King’s Bastion with a barricade of 
stone, and built a cavalier, or raised battery, 
on the King’s Bastion, — where, however, 
the English fire soon ruined it. 

Against that near and peculiarly danger- 
ous neighbor the advanced battery, or, as 
they called it, the Batterie de Franccear , 
they planted three heavy cannons to take it 
in flank, which, according to Duchambon’s 
report to the Minister for the Colonies, 
“ produced a marvellous effect, dismount- 
ing one of the cannon of the Bastonnais, 
and damaging all their embrasures, but,” 
he adds, — and it is easy to imagine the 


THE FALL OF THE FORTRESS. 285 

sigh that accompanied the sentence, — this 
did not prevent them from keeping up a 
constant fire, and they repaired by night 
the mischief we did them by day.” 

Ah ! yes, those tireless, dauntless, deter- 
mined Bastonnais, who defied all tradition, 
and paid no more attention to the set rules 
of military tactics than did birds to the 
fences in the fields, truly they were provok- 
ing beyond all patience, and it seemed 
quite too bad that they should get on so 
well in their preposterous enterprise. 

For the net was ever being drawn closer 
about the beleaguered fortress, and each 
day increased the chances of its downfall. 

Commodore Warren, growing impatient 
at the slow movement of the siege, and 
learning from those captured on board the 
“ Vigilant ” that she was the forerunner of a 
squadron from Brest, which, even if it could 
not defeat him, might elude his blockade, 
and, taking advantage of the frequent fog, 
slip into Louisbourg in spite of him, thus 
making its capture impossible, called a 
council of captains on board his flag-ship 


286 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

and laid before them a plan for taking the 
place without further delay. 

This was to the effect that all the King’s 
ships and the provincial cruisers should 
enter the harbor, after taking on board 
sixteen hundred of the New England men, 
and attack the town from the water side, 
while the remainder of the army should 
assault it by land. 

But on this being proposed to General 
Pepperell he demurred, for it practically 
meant to pass over the command to Warren, 
as only some two thousand of the New 
Englanders were fit for service at the time, 
and of these, as he informed the commo- 
dore, “six hundred are gone in quest of 
two bodies of French and Indians, who, we 
are informed, are gathering, one to the 
eastward, and the other to the westward.” 

His reply irritated Warren not a little, 
and he responded tartly, “ I am very sorry 
that no one plan of mine, though approved 
by all my captains, has been so fortunate as 
to meet your approbation, or have any 
weight with you;” and to show that his 


THE FALL OF THE FORTRESS. 287 

suggestions were entitled to more weight 
he gave an extract from a letter written to 
him by Governor Shirley, in which that 
amiable flatterer hinted his regret at War- 
ren not being able to take command of the 
whole expedition, “ which, I doubt not,” he 
said, “ would be a most happy event for his 
Majesty's service.” 

Despite this sharp thrust, however, Pep- 
perell kept his temper admirably, and after 
some further consultation came to an 
understanding with Warren for a joint 
attack by land and water. 

The Island Battery was by this time 
hopelessly crippled, and the town batteries 
that commanded the interior of the harbor 
were nearly destroyed. It was, therefore, 
arranged that Commodore Warren, whose 
squadron had been increased by recent ar- 
rivals to eleven ships, not counting the 
provincial cruisers, should enter the harbor 
with the first fair wind, cannonade the 
town, and attack it by boats, while General 
Pepperell, with all his forces, stormed it 
from the land side. 


288 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOtJRG. 

When ready to sail in, Warren was to 
hoist a Dutch flag under his pennant at his 
main topgallant masthead as a signal, and 
Pepperell was to answer by sending up 
three columns of smoke, at the same time 
marching towards the walls with drums 
beating and colors flying. 

While of course the precise details of 
these plans were unknown to the French, 
they could not fail to surmise that a con- 
certed attack was being arranged, and right 
before their eyes the besiegers carried a 
large quantity of fascines to the foot of the 
glacis in readiness to fill up the ditch, and 
the scouts came in with the alarming report 
that more than a thousand scaling ladders 
were lying behind the ridge of the nearest 
hill. 

Shrewdly guessing the state of affairs, 
Prince and Pickle found it hard to conceal 
their exultation, and were glad when they 
could be alone and unobserved. 

“ I do hope they will make the attack 
soon,” said Pickle, “ for I am desperately 
sick of this place. The Mounseers are in 


TtfE FALL OF THE FORTRESS 289 

a great muddle. Some of them want to 
fight it out, and some want to surrender, 
and they can’t settle which to do.” 

What Pickle said was true enough. 
Divided# counsels prevailed in Louisbourg. 
Duchambon’s resolution to continue the 
defence was still unshaken, but the towns- 
people were heartsick and despairing. Toil, 
loss of sleep, and the bad air of the casemates 
to which they had been driven for refuge, 
had sapped the strength of the garrison. 

“We could have borne all this,” wrote 
Bigot the Intendant, “ but the scarcity of 
powder, the loss of the ‘Vigilant,’ the pres- 
ence of the squadron, and the absence of 
any news from Marin, who had been or- 
dered to join us with his Canadians and 
Indians, spread terror among the troops 
and inhabitants. The townspeople said 
they did not want to be put to the sword, 
and were not strong enough to resist a 
general assault.” 

Accordingly, on the fifteenth of June, 
they brought a petition to Duchambon, 
begging him to capitulate. 

19 


290 FIFE Am) DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

When the Pomeroys heard of this, they 
hugged one another in an ecstasy of delight. 

“ They ’re giving in ! ” cried Pickle. 
“ They won’t hold out much longer now, 
and we ’ll soon be back with our friends. 
Oh, won’t that be glorious ! ” 

“Yes, indeed,” responded Prince more 
soberly, “ and after all our narrow escapes 
we ’ll get safe home again in triumph. I 
wonder how Commander Duchambon will 
answer the petition.” 

Duchambon’s first impulse was to give 
a flat refusal. It seemed altogether too 
galling that a great French fortress like 
Louisbourg, garrisoned by veteran soldiers, 
should surrender to an untrained, undisci- 
plined horde of colonial militiamen. 

But on consultation with his officers he 
found that he stood practically alone. 
They had lost all hope of succor from 
across the ocean, and they were satisfied 
that any further prolongation of the de- 
fence on their part was impracticable. 

So at last the gallant commander was 
fain to yield, and Captain Sherburn, who 


THE FALL OF THE FORTRESS. 291 

had charge of the advanced battery, tells 
in his diary how “ we had got all our plat- 
forms laid, embrasures mended, guns in 
order, shot in place, cartridges ready, dined, 
gunners quartered, matches lighted to re- 
turn their last favor, when we heard their 
drums beat a parley, and soon appeared a 
flag of truce, which I received midway 
between our battery and their walls.” 

The first proposals made by the French 
were of such a nature that General Pep- 
perell refused to listen to them, and sent 
back the officer who bore them with coun- 
ter-proposals, including the condition that 
no officer, soldier, or inhabitant of Louis- 
bourg should bear arms against the King of 
England for the space of a year. 

Duchambon, in return, stipulated that 
his troops should march out of the fortress 
with their arms and colors. 

To this both the English commanders 
consented, Warren shrewdly observing to 
Pepperell, “the uncertainty of our affairs, 
that depend so much on wind and weather, 
makes it necessary not to stickle at trifles.” 


292 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

So the articles of capitulation were duly 
signed, and on the seventeenth day of June 
the war ships sailed peacefully into the 
harbor, while Pepperell, with a part of his 
ragged army, entered the south gate of the 
town. 

Here the Pomeroy boys met them. In 
some way or other they had managed to 
obtain possession of a fife and drum, and 
thus were able to greet their compatriots 
with a familiar strain as they pressed for- 
ward into the surrendered stronghold. 


CHAPTER XXII. 


HOME AGAIN IN TRIUMPH. 

TNTO the rejoicings that followed the 
A fall of Louisbourg, Prince and Pickle 
entered with immense vim. Neither Gen- 
eral Pepperell nor Commander Warren 
took more pride than they in the success of 
this wonderful enterprise, unparalleled in 
the whole history of war. They had done 
their best from start to finish of the siege, 
and they knew that they would be nothing 
less than heroes when they returned home 
and recounted their experiences. 

“ How proud father will be of us ! ” 
Pickle chuckled. “ He’ll be glad he let 
us change from old Hateall's to Master 
Hancock's school, won't he?” 

“ And how glad mother will be to have 
us back safe and sound ! " responded Prince. 


294 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

“She ’ll think a great deal more of that 
than she will of anything else,” he added, 
rightly reading the little mother’s heart. 

“ And Master Hancock will feel proud, 
also, that two of his boys should have taken 
part in this expedition when he was not 
able to go himself,” continued Pickle. 

And so they exulted together in the joy- 
ous prospect that was before them. 

After the first excitement of the entry of 
the New Englanders into the town had 
passed, the boys undertook to act as guides 
for some of their friends, and show them 
over the place. 

Accordingly they visited the various bat- 
teries and bastions, and the more the con- 
querors saw of the strength of the defences, 
the more amazed they were at their own 
success. 

“ Verily the Lord was with us, else we 
should never have been able to pull down 
the mighty from their seats ! ” was the pious 
exclamation of Sparhawk as he gazed at 
the massive walls and lofty ramparts. 

While passing the church, their ears 


HOME AGAIN IN TRIUMPH. 295 

caught sounds of smashing within, and 
Pickle exclaimed : — 

“ Halloo ! I wonder what ’s happening 
inside. Let us go in and see.” 

So they all entered, and lo ! there was 
the redoubtable Parson Moody, bareheaded 
and coatless, hewing away at the altars of 
popery, as he had pledged himself to do 
ere he left Boston. 

The perspiration poured down his fiery 
face, his long white hair was all dishevelled, 
and his breath had evidently grown scant, 
but he toiled away with his flashing axe, 
wrecking the altars, and splitting in pieces 
the images with the zest born of passionate 
detestation. 

Much amused, the visitors watched the 
old man for some time, and then withdrew 
to continue their explorations. 

By way of celebrating the victory, Gen- 
eral Pepperell gave a dinner to the com- 
modore and his officers, to which he was 
good enough to invite the twins, in whom 
he had all along taken a special interest. 

To Parson Moody, as being the general’s 


296 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

chaplain, and the oldest man in the army, 
belonged the privilege of asking the bless- 
ing at the board ; and those who knew 
by experience the length of the venerable 
pastor’s grace, were much concerned as to 
how it would be endured by their guests 
on this occasion. At the same time not 
one of them dared rasp his irritable temper 
by any suggestion of brevity, and hence 
they came to the feast full of apprehension 
lest there should be an invocation of a good 
half-hour in length, terminated by an open 
revolt on the part of the hungry Britons. 

Great, however, was their surprise and 
relief when the worthy divine, wearied 
perhaps by his exertions in the church, 
contented himself with these pregnant 
words : — 

“ Good Lord, we have so much to thank 
Thee for that time will be too short, and 
we must leave it to eternity ; ” and then 
with a brief request for a blessing upon 
their food and fellowship, he resumed his 
seat, leaving them free to fall to before the 
soup had ceased to steam. 


HOME AGAIN IN TRIUMPH. 297 

The colonial troops had fully expected 
that on taking possession of Louisbourg 
they would have license to plunder at their 
own will, but to their intense disgust they 
were straitly enjoined against doing any- 
thing of the kind. 

Not only so, but instead of being at 
once permitted to occupy the houses, which, 
shattered by shot and shell as they were, 
offered far better protection from the cold 
persistent rain that now poured down in 
floods than the flimsy tents and sodden 
huts of turf they had dwelt in so long, 
they had to wait until the Louisbourg folk 
could be embarked for France. 

All this did not tend to good temper 
on the part of the New Englanders, and 
Prince and Pickle were very glad when 
General Pepperell sent for them, and told 
them they might join a detachment of 
troops he was allowing to return home, 
some of them being invalided, and others 
having families in distress and danger on 
the exposed northern frontier. 

The vessels carrying these home-goers 


298 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

were to be convoyed by two of the provin- 
cial cruisers, and Pickle, who would never 
lose anything for lack of trying, as soon 
as he learned which ships would go, made 
his way to the captain of the best of them, 
and begged that he and his brother might 
be allowed on board. 

Captain Russell was much amused at 
this na'ive request. 

“ Upon what ground, my young friend, 
do you base your claim for such considera- 
tion ?” he inquired with a grave counte- 
nance, in which, however, Pickle did not 
fail to detect a telltale twinkle of the eye. 

“ Simply this, sir,” responded Pickle 
promptly. “ We came here in a stinking 
old scow, and, having borne ourselves with 
some credit, it seems only fair that we 
should go back in a decent vessel.” 

Captain Russell broke into a laugh. He 
was not ignorant of the exploits of the 
Pomeroy twins, and was quite willing to 
have them as passengers. He simply 
wanted to parley with Master Pickle a 
little before granting his request. 


HOME AGAIN IN TRIUMPH. 299 

“ And so you think you ’ve entitled 
yourselves to a passage home with me?” 
he said smilingly. “Well, we’ll consider 
the matter, and let you know before we 
start.” 

Convinced that he had gained his point, 
Pickle hastened off to Prince with radiant 
face, and, sure enough, the next morning 
word came from the captain for the boys 
to hurry on board with all their belongings, 
as the convoy would start at mid-day. 

They were not at all sorry to bid good- 
by to Louisbourg. Aside from the novelty 
and excitement of military life, their ex- 
perience had not been such as to make 
the extension of it in any wise to be 
desired. 

Scanty rations rudely cooked, a cold damp 
hut, or a flimsy tent, every second man 
about you sick, and all more or less ragged, 
— these were not the conditions that ren- 
dered camp life attractive, and the boys 
now began to look forward joyfully to the 
abundant toothsome fare, the warm snug 
beds, the cleanliness and comfort of their 


300 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURGL 

own beloved home on the edge of Boston 
Common. 

“ I don’t think we ’ll be in a hurry to go 
away again/’ remarked Prince thought- 
fully, as, leaning over the bulwarks, they 
watched the Cape Breton shore grow faint 
in the distance. “ We ’ve had a pretty ex- 
citing time of it, and we ’ll enjoy a good 
long rest, wont we ? ” 

“ That we will ! ” responded Pickle 
heartily, bringing his hand down upon the 
rail with an emphatic slap, “ and what a 
comfort it will be to get something fit to 
eat after the wretched stuff we ’ve been 
having ! ” 

Pickle had a keen appreciation of the 
pleasures of the table, and promised him- 
self a fine blowout' when he once more got 
within range of his mother’s well-stored 
pantry. 

The passage home was a very pleasant 
one. No storms arose to disturb the 
comfort of the voyagers, but a steady 
northwester blew their ships prosperously 
southward at a rate which, if not quite fast 


HOME AGAIN IN TRIUMPH. 301 

enough for the impatient Pickle, was 
nevertheless very satisfactory. 

They arrived off Boston harbor toward 
sunset of a beautiful midsummer day, and 
the wind just lasted long enough to bring the 
cruisers to their mooring-places, while the 
transports straggled slowly in the rear. 

Advance messengers had already borne 
to the New England capital the glad news 
of the fall of Louisbourg, and the coming of 
the convoy was awaited with the keenest 
interest. 

A joyous noisy crowd thronged the 
wharves, ready to give the returning con- 
querors a royal reception ; and as the cruiser 
swung slowly and carefully toward her 
berth, Pickle, standing upon the bulwarks 
with his left hand grasping the main 
shrouds, swung his cap vigorously with the 
other while he shouted exultantly : — 

“ Hurrah ! there ’s father ! I can see 
him plainly, and Nathan and Winthrop are 
just beside him.” 

Sure enough, the tall form of Master 
Preserved Pomeroy distinguished itself from 


302 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

the mass of humanity that packed the 
wharf head, and although only a brother’s 
eyes might have recognized them, his 
two elder sons pressed close to his broad 
shoulders. 

Prince took his place beside Pickle, and 
soon they could see that their father’s 
eager glance had found them, and that he 
was pointing them out to those who stood 
beside him. 

Ah ! what a proud glad moment that 
was for the worthy man who had sacrificed 
so much that the daring enterprise might 
not fail ! 

Little recked he now of what it had cost 
him in hard-earned gold or keen anxiety, 
for right grandly had his twin sons ac- 
quitted themselves, and brought back the 
name of Pomeroy brilliant with new lustre. 

The moment the ship touched the wharf, 
Prince and Pickle sprang off together, and 
were enfolded in the arms of their father, 
who, as he hugged them tightly, uplifted 
his rugged radiant face, exclaiming through 
quivering lips : — 


HOME AGAIN IN TRIUMPH. 303 

“Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant 
depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen 
Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared 
before the face of all people.” 

As soon as order could be obtained, the 
officer in command of the detachment of 
returned soldiers ordered them to fall in, 
that they might march to Governor Shir- 
ley's residence for the purpose of saluting 
him. 

Accordingly the wharf was with some 
difficulty cleared, and the line of march 
having been formed four abreast, with 
Prince and Pickle, who happened to be the 
only members of the fife and drum corps on 
board, at their head, away they went 
through lanes of cheering, shouting people. 

Staid, sober Boston city completely lost 
her head that day, but was in no wise 
ashamed of it. 

The offices, workshops, schools, and homes 
were alike deserted by men, women, and 
children, who poured out into the streets to 
welcome their victorious countrymen. 

As the procession skirted the Common, 


304 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

it passed the Pomeroy house, and there at 
the door, surrounded by her younger chil- 
dren, stood sweet Mistress Pomeroy, the 
tears of joy running down her rosy cheeks, 
as she saw her darling boys marching 
proudly in the van, and playing with all the 
more vigor as they came in sight of home. 

Prince looked eagerly toward her, and 
nodded his head vigorously without losing 
a note ; but Pickle could not thus restrain 
himself. 

After a brief ineffectual struggle with 
his own impulses, he, to the horror of the 
commanding officer, just as they came in 
front of where Mistress Pomeroy stood, 
suddenly ceased his rataplan, dived head- 
long through the crowd, gave his mother a 
swift embrace and a sounding kiss, and 
then darted back to his place, resuming his 
drumming as if it had not been interrupted. 

The spectators of this incident laughed 
and cheered heartily, those who knew 
Pickle exclaiming : — 

“ Was n’t that just like him!” And 
Mistress Pemoroy, blushing with pride and 


HOME AGAIN IN TRIUMPH. 305 

pleasure, retired within to give thanks to 
God for having brought her boys back to 
her. 

At the Province House they found 
Governor Shirley awaiting them on the 
doorsteps, and when with hearty cheers 
they had halted before him, he took off 
his hat, and in his own gracious winning 
way proceeded to address them. 

On behalf of the King and Common- 
wealth he thanked them for their prompt 
patriotism, their patient endurance of hard- 
ship, and their unflinching bravery. He 
assured them that a full account of what 
they had suffered and achieved would be 
transmitted to the home government, and 
that their name and fame would never be 
forgotten, but would have a prominent place 
in the history of the British people. 

He concluded by inviting all of them, 
officers and soldiers alike, to partake of 
the refreshments already prepared for them, 
and the soldiers cheered him again and 
again as he stood smiling upon them. 

Truly no man in all New England had 
20 


306 FIFE AND DRUM AT LOUISBOURG. 

more reason to be glad of heart than he. 
The daring enterprise which, if not the 
child of his own brain, would at all events 
never have been more than a wild dream 
but for his enthusiastic adoption and zealous 
advocacy, had realized his highest hopes, 
and that at so small a cost in blood and 
treasure as to leave him free to rejoice 
unstintedly. 

He was the most admired and beloved 
representative of the King throughout the 
American colonies, and he confidently an- 
ticipated due recognition at royal hands 
for the good service he had rendered the 
English throne. 

But if he was happy and proud in his 
own way, even more so were the Pomeroys. 
The glory won by Prince and Pickle cast 
its radiance on them all, from the parents 
down to the youngest child, and they found 
the importance with which it invested them 
for the time being very gratifying. 

As for the two boys, they enjoyed the 
situation immensely. To be recognized 
heroes among their companions, to have 


HOME AGAIN IN TRIUMPH. 307 

Master Hancock paying them deference, 
quite as if they were no less important 
personages than himself, and most notable 
of all to be specially invited by Governor 
Shirley to relate to him their experiences 
of the siege — what more could boyish 
hearts desire ? Right well repaid did they 
deem themselves for having played on fife 
and drum at the immortal capture of 
Louisbourg. 


THE END. 


THE WRITINGS OF SAMUEL ADAMS DRAKE. 


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